Tiger back to drawing board

TIGER WOODS is back on the practice tee and working to get back on the course.

Woods has returned home after a week of family counselling in Arizona and is trying to get back into a routine that includes fitness and his first significant practice in 15 weeks.

Woods returned to his home near Orlando on Saturday and has been hitting balls on the range at Isleworth, not far from where he ran his SUV into a fire hydrant and a tree in the middle of the night on November 27, setting off shocking revelations of infidelity.

Woods is not likely to play next week in the World Golf Championship at Doral, where he has won three times.

His next possibility on the PGA Tour is the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill, where he is the defending champion and a six-time winner.

Woods was photographed hitting balls at Isleworth on February 18, the day before he ended nearly three months of silence by speaking to a small group of associates at the TPC Sawgrass in a 13½-minute statement that was televised around the world.

Those photos of Woods were arranged to counter the paparazzi trying to follow his every move since Thanksgiving.

Woods has not practised in earnest since winning the Australian Masters in Melbourne on November 15 for his 82nd victory worldwide.

“I do plan to return to golf one day, I just don’t know when that day will be,” Woods said in his statement at Sawgrass. I don’t rule out that it will be this year.”

Woods said he had attended inpatient therapy “for the issues I’m facing” for 45 days, from the end of December to early February. He said he was leaving the next day for more therapy, without saying what kind. Woods said at Sawgrass of his infidelity, “As Elin pointed out to me, my real apology to her will not come in the form of words; it will come from my behaviour over time.

“We have a lot to discuss; however, what we say to each other will remain between the two of us.”

News of him getting back into a routine is sure to begin speculation when he might return to the PGA Tour. Woods announced on December 4 that he was taking an “indefinite break” to try to salvage his marriage.

To date, he has missed only two tournaments he typically would have played – Torrey Pines and the Match Play Championship – although he had also been leaning toward playing Pebble Beach this year because it will host the US Open in June.

“When he does come back, I hope it’s in the Masters, and I hope he’s in great form,” Masters champion Angel Cabrera said yesterday.

The fallout from Woods’ sex scandal has been immense. He already been dropped by sponsors Accenture, AT&T and Gatorade. Other companies – such as Procter and Gamble’s Gillette – have suspended promotions of Woods while he takes his break from golf.

When he does return, he will have a different logo on his golf bag, replacing AT&T, if he can find a deal.