Haney: Woods will begin practicing 'pretty soon'

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Coach Hank Haney says Tiger Woods' rehab schedule will benefit him in ways it wouldn't benefit other players on the mend.

NEW YORK -- Tiger Woods doesn't expect to hit practice balls until early next year. But that doesn't mean he can't practice.

In fact, Woods' swing coach, Hank Haney, said that Tiger will "pretty soon" begin chipping and putting. "He could probably be chipping and putting right now," Haney added.

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Hank Haney said he saw evidence that Tiger Woods was not 100 percent at the U.S. Open.

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Woods is still rehabilitating from anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction of his left knee that he underwent in June after winning the U.S. Open. At a press function to debut his Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 09 video game, Woods could be seen walking with a slight limp, then resting his left leg cautiously on a director's chair while doing interviews.

But while he cannot twist his knee in a manner required of hitting a tee or approach shot, he can practice his short game and putting, since those motions do not put stress on his knee.

Because he can work on his short game now, Woods may very well be ahead of the curve when he does return to the driving range.

"What you always worry about when people haven't played in a while is their short game," Haney said. "But his short game will have had more practice than any other part of his game, and that will be a plus. I don't think getting his swing back is going to be an issue."

Haney said the biggest challenge of Woods' long layoff will be simply regaining a feel for playing the game. That was an issue going into the U.S. Open when Woods had little practice time, playing just nine holes four days before the tournament. Despite Woods' win, Haney said he could see evidence of that rust at Torrey Pines.

"He made a few uncharacteristic mistakes for Tiger that you don't see if he's played golf (on a regular basis)," Haney said.

"When somebody lays off, it doesn't really take 'em long to hit it good," he added. "It just takes a little while to get the feel for the game."

Haney said it's obvious that Woods wants to be ready for the Masters next April, but the main thing is to make sure the world's top player doesn't force the issue.

"People think he's Superman," Haney said. "But the reality is, when you have this injury, even though the success rate is hugely successful, it's a 6-8 month to a year project. It really doesn't matter if you work out 24 hours a day. The doctors have told me that the graft (taken from his right hamstring) is at its weakest from 3-5 months. So there's nothing you can do. You don't want to rush it and then after six months, have to go through this again. You're forced to err on the side of caution."

But Haney, while being realistic, is also optimistic and excited about what he'll see whenever Tiger returns in 2009.

"To me, I anticipate he'll be better than he's ever been," Haney said, "because now he's going to have two good legs, he'll get to practice -- his practice time was slowing down as his knee was getting worse. Now he'll get to practice and should be good to go.

"Then there's the thing you always have to remember: When all is said and done, he's Tiger Woods."

Which means everybody else will need to watch out when he reappears on the PGA TOUR.