TIGER Woods is "a few weeks" away from a return to the PGA tour and could decide within days where that return will take place, insists his caddie Steve Williams.
Williams told Television New Zealand that Woods is close to ending his long injury lay-off and will return to the tour mentally stronger than before.
"It's going to be anytime, shortly," Williams said. "He's probably 95 per cent of the way there.
He was waiting for the birth of his second child which just came last week so he's ready to go.
"He just needs a little bit more walking. He hasn't been able to walk too well," he added.
"Anytime in the next few weeks he's going to tee it up. He definitely wants to play a couple of tournaments before Augusta so any day now he's going to make a decision when he's going to play."
Speculation has increased over the past week that Woods would make his return at the Accenture Match Play Championship in Tucson, Arizona starting 25 February. His wife, Elin, gave birth to their second child – a boy named Charlie Axel – earlier in the month.
Woods has not played since undergoing reconstructive arthroscopic surgery on his left knee to repair cartilage damage a week after winning the US Open in June. Williams said Woods had remodelled his swing to accommodate his injured knee and had been refreshed mentally by his long break from top golf.
"He's just got a couple of little issues but when he tees it up that will be a sign to say 'I'm ready to go' because he won't play unless he's 100 per cent. It's getting closer," Williams said. Woods had been doing six hours a day of rehab on his knee to get fit again, Willliams said. "He never tees it up unless he believes he can win and he's ready to go."
The New Zealand-born caddie said Woods still had the heart and brain that took him to No1 in the world rankings, so that alleviated some concerns about his return from the knee problem.
"He's had to modify his swing a little bit to accommodate his knee, but the guy always finds a way," Williams said. "I'm a little nervous myself to see how he's going to come back.
"Nine months out of the game after a major operation is a long time but he's a hell of a competitor and one of the best we've ever seen in this game so I would suspect he'll carry right on."
Williams said it was too early to anticipate what goals Woods might set on his return. "It's well documented that we're trying to get to 19 majors and hopefully this year we might be able to capture one of those to add to the 14 he's already got," he said.
The lengthy period outside of the media spotlight might also have helped Woods, he said.
"I know just over the last couple of years the tour has probably taken as toll a little bit on Tiger," Williams said. "He's a person that's different to everybody, he's unique and he's out there in his own league if you like and I think that's taken a toll a little bit.
"So for him to get a break from it, mentally that will refresh him and that's a big thing.
"We already know he's the best mentally tough player who's ever played the game so that in itself is a big factor."
BACKGROUNDTIGER Woods has a long history of problems with his left knee dating back to 1994, when he had an operation to remove a benign tumour. There was further surgery in December 2002, and part of the reason he changed coaches, from Butch Harmon to Hank Haney, in 2004 was to develop a swing that placed the knee under less stress.
Last year, Woods underwent arthroscopic surgery just days after the Masters. He returned in time for the US Open in June but was visibly in pain with every full-blown shot. Despite this, he overcame Rocco Mediate in an 18-hole playoff, after which it was announced he needed surgery on his anterior cruciate ligament, and had been playing with a double stress fracture of his tibia.
