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Hank Haney (left) with Tiger Woods

Tiger Woods was reported to be back in practice on the range on Monday and looking ready to play again - sooner rather than later. The world number one, the New York Daily News has confirmed through several sources, has been working with swing guru Hank Haney on the driving range at Isleworth since Sunday.

There is now a growing belief amongst observers who have seen his swing that he is on course to play in next month's Masters, most likely after a crucial pre-Augusta warm-up in the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill two weeks earlier.

Prior to that, Woods could also feature in the Tavistock Cup, an annual, unofficial event in Florida between the PGA Tour residents of the gated golf estates of Lake Nona and Isleworth, where he has one of his homes.

The view is that a low-key comeback in that event would enable his management team to prevent a wild media scramble and help ease the world's most famous golfer back into competitive action in a less frenzied atmosphere.

It has been reported that Haney has rented a home in Augusta during the week of the Masters, although this in itself is no guarantee that Woods will be competing with virtually the entire golfing community congregating in Augusta that week.

Speculation over Williams
Meanwhile, there has been some speculation making the sports pages that Woods' is considering the future of his caddie, Steve Williams. Williams recently appeared on New Zealand television discussing his employer's infidelity and said, amongst other things, that he was angry with Woods over the scandal and would almost certainly have blown the whistle had he known about Woods' extramarital affairs.

In the past Woods has been known to come down severely on members of his team who have become too loose-lipped with the media. It has been widely suggested that his former caddy, Mike 'Fluff' Cowan, was one of them who got the chop because of it.

However, at this testing stage of his life, teaming up with a new caddy still seems an unlikely move for an embattled man who badly needs men around him that he feels comfortable with and who he knows will have his best interests at heart.

Meanwhile Tiger Woods has turned down a 75-million-dollar sponsorship offer from bookmakers Paddy Power, the Irish firm revealed on Friday. Paddy Power had made an initial offer to pay the sum over a five-year period but, after talks with Woods' management company IMG, that was rejected. But Paddy Power aim to continue talks before making a revised offer.

In a statement Paddy Power said: "Paddy Power remains keen to work with Tiger Woods, and will re-engage with IMG. "An enhanced offer will be made, the details of which will remain confidential." Woods has lost a number of high-profile sponsors following the publicity surrounding allegations that he had extra-marital affairs. He has yet to return to playing and recently made a public apology over his actions.

Meanwhile Tiger Woods is back at home after a week of family counseling in Arizona and is trying to get into a routine that includes golf and fitness, a person with knowledge of his schedule said on Tuesday. Source: Megonline and Supersport.

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