Woods back in the fray

Swing coach Hank Haney, whose working relationship with Tiger Woods ended abruptly after the golfer’s fall from grace, said his former employer looks ready to resume his climb up the majors list at tomorrow’s US Open.

Woods has not won a major in five years, but the American is back in top form and putting better than ever, according to Haney, who broke with him after the 2009 revelations of a slew of extramarital affairs shattered the golfer’s image.

“How can you pick anybody but Tiger Woods in the US Open?” Haney said. Woods won six majors in his six years of collaboration with Haney, but has not won any since notching his 14th major by winning the 2008 US Open.

It has been a long road back for Woods, who was sidelined immediately after his 2008 triumph for knee surgery and then sidetracked by his personal crisis and a swing change he underwent with new coach Sean Foley.

Haney said Woods was back and that the intimidation factor he enjoyed over opponents during his heyday was re-emerging. “He doesn’t look like a different golfer to me,” said Haney. “He looks like Tiger Woods. His short game this year and his putting have been great. That part of his game has improved dramatically.

“The rest of his game is right there. His ball striking is down a little bit. (But) the most important thing is putting. You can swing it all you want, you can strike it all you want. But you better putt. I think he’s a clear favourite at the US Open.”

Woods, who has won four times in eight starts this year and regained the number one world ranking, leads the PGA Tour in scoring average and ranks near the top in putting categories.

Haney said Merion Golf Club, where the US Open begins tomorrow, could prove to be the ideal site for Woods to resume his chase after Jack Nicklaus and his record haul of 18 major championships.

Merion Golf Club’s 6,996-yard East Course in Ardmore, 11 miles west of Philadelphia, will be the shortest US Open layout – and the first below 7,000 yards – for nearly a decade.

But the blend of short and long holes, challenging greens, deep bunkers, penal rough and unique wicker baskets instead of flags have attracted the US Open back for the first time since 1981.

The course, laid out in 1912 as an offshoot of the Merion Cricket Club which was established in 1865, is iconic in US golf and steeped in history.

In 1930, the legendary Bobby Jones won the US Amateur title at Merion to complete the Grand Slam; in 1950, Ben Hogan won the US Open there, 16 months after a near-fatal car crash; in 1971, Lee Trevino beat Jack Nicklaus in an 18-hole play-off for the US Open.

“This place is just magical,” said Mike Davis, the USGA executive director. “In so many ways, it’s historical. It’s an architectural treasure. From a golf standpoint, I think you could easily say it’s a landmark.”

“I think it’s great,” Haney said about the short, cramped Merion layout being a fit for Woods. “He doesn’t like to hit the driver.

“He’s played a more conservative game, hitting irons and fairway woods off the tee. That’s a disadvantage for him when other players are hitting their driver and hitting their driver well. But Merion is going to take the driver out of everybody’s hands on certain holes and that has to be an advantage to Tiger.”