No Tiger news, except that he doesn't use video for tips

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If anyone has insight into Tiger's return, it's Hank Haney, but he was quiet on that topic at the PGA Merchandise Show.

SAN DIEGO (AP) -- Swing coach Hank Haney spoke to a full house at the PGA Merchandise Show last week, and with the topic centered on instruction, he delivered one tidbit that might have surprised some of the teaching pros.

"In the five years that I've worked with Tiger (Woods), we've used video probably four times," Haney said. "That might surprise a lot of people."

He paused and offered a wry smile.

"Then again, he's on TV all the time, especially with some of the highlights," Haney said. "He'll call me up and say, 'Did you see that swing on 16?' But he knows what his mistakes look like. Once he sees a swing on video, he won't be surprised."

Haney has spent most of January with Woods at Isleworth -- his home course in Orlando, Fla. -- and while he couldn't say when the world's No. 1 player would return to competition from his knee surgery, it sounds as though Woods is getting close.

"He's not ready right now," Haney said. "But he's more ready this week than he was last week. He hasn't had any setbacks. He wants to play Augusta (in April), and he's going to need to get in some events."

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COLLECTOR'S ITEM
Even for a 19-year-old, Rory McIlroy had reason to wonder where the time has gone.

McIlroy

It was 10 years ago when he was watching the World Match Play Championship at Wentworth, the year Colin Montgomerie defeated Mark O'Meara for the title. It seems O'Meara had holed a bunker shot on the 18th hole of the morning round and gave the ball to a young lad from Northern Ireland.

"He signed it, and I've still got it," McIlroy said last week.

He couldn't resist bringing that up when McIlroy and O'Meara, 52, played together for the first two rounds of the Dubai Desert Classic, which McIlroy went on to win.

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SLIM CARL
Carl Pettersson started the year looking slimmer than ever, having lost 20 pounds through diet and exercise. Pettersson said he knew it was time for a change when he felt sluggish after rounds and figured he better get in shape if he wanted to continue competing well into the next decade.

Pettersson

"I actually don't mind going to the gym," he said. "But we'll see how long this lasts."

So far, so good. A month into the season, Pettersson said he has slipped only once, and that was last week at the FBR Open when he made a couple of trips to In-N-Out Burger, the popular California joint.

Asked if he was chubby as a kid growing up in Sweden, Pettersson replied, "I only lived in Sweden 10 years. You guys make me fat."

Pettersson, whose father worked for Volvo, moved to North Carolina when he was 15.

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IRONMEN
Brian Gay is finally taking a week off after playing in the first four tournaments, all 17 rounds at par or better.

Gay

Four other players haven't missed a beat, although they have missed a cut.

Daniel Chopra, Chez Reavie, Johnson Wagner and Ryuji Imada are scheduled to play this week's Buick Invitational, giving them five straight weeks on TOUR. Chopra and Wagner have yet to make a 36-hole cut (there was no cut in the winners-only field at Kapalua).

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DIVOTS
David Toms has 12 consecutive rounds in the 60s dating to the second round of the Sony Open. ... BMW will be the title sponsor of the Italian Open, giving it three title sponsorships on the European Tour.

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STAT
The last 13 winners of the Buick Invitational are major champions, the longest streak of any PGA TOUR event except for the four majors.