Harrington torn over Tiger
“From the point of competing to win The Masters, the less stressful a week I have the better,” said the three-time major champion.
“But from an interested point of view I’d like to be in the same group and watch what’s happening and see it all and analyse and probably learn something from it.”
The world number one’s comeback from his sex scandal dominates the agenda for the opening major of the season.
Woods has not played since mid-November and went over two months without being seen in public after lurid stories about his private life hit the headlines.
Harrington, in Houston this week looking for his first Tour win since the 2008 USPGA, is happy to be able to go about his job in relative peace.
“It’s nice when you can go into any tournament and prepare without having any outside expectations,” he added.
“There has been a lot of talk about Tiger’s return. There’ll always be a lot of talk about Tiger and it does take a little bit of the pressure off the rest of us.
“It will help other people go about their business.”
Harrington does not believe Woods will be viewed differently by other players.
“No, I don’t think so,” he added. “I’ll be interested myself as an outsider to see how he reacts on the golf course and what his personality is on the golf course, see how his confidence is.
“I don’t think anybody can tell but him how it’s going to go down, and he’s not going to be 100% sure.
“A lot of people talked last summer that he looked irritated on the golf course. You’ve got to think that’s going to be gone.
“There’s going to be a huge release of tension. If he three-putts the first green, I still think he’ll have a smile on his face walking to the second tee.
“Players play very well when they have that relaxed attitude to their golf. Even his own expectations are going to be reduced compared to every other time he tees off. That could help him.
“The lack of competition is going to be difficult, but he’s one of the best players in the world for competing without competition because he’s done it so many times in the past.
“Over time I think things will get better and players will look at his performances and worry about that much more than anything else.”
Which two players are partnering him in the first two rounds next Thursday and Friday will be discovered on Tuesday, so Harrington will know then whether he is going to be at the eye of the storm.
Last year, the Dubliner arrived at Augusta in search of a third successive major, but he was also in the process of changing his swing. A quadruple bogey nine at the second hole of his third round effectively ended his hopes.
He eventually came 35th, but with 11 top-10 finishes in his last 18 tournaments the foundations are there for another big season.
“It comes down to trusting my routines and possibly being a little bit less defensive. The last thing you want is coming down the back nine of The Masters not having felt the competitive pressure for three or four months.”
