Tiger Woods hitting the ball 'longer than before', claim close friends

Ahead of his much-anticipated return to golf, those around Tiger Woods claim the world No1 is in relaxed mood and striking the ball "longer than before". Woods announced last week that he is to compete in next month's US Masters at Augusta, the first time the 34-year-old will tee-off in competitive action since the revelations about his private life and his subsequent break from the sport. Having completed five-minute interviews with ESPN and the Golf Channel over the weekend, Woods is believed to have played a practice round at Augusta National Golf Club yesterday. "From what I saw the last three days of ball striking, I don't see anybody hit the ball like he does," said John Cook, one of Woods's long-time friends, who played rounds with Woods on 18 and 19 March and practised with him two days ago. "If he takes that game up there [to the Masters], I don't see anybody beating him." The PGA Tour player Arjun Atwal, who has also played with Woods and Cook in recent days, also told bloomberg.com: "He [Woods] is very chilled out. When he's out with us, you can see he's more at peace right now. I think he's doing all the right things. "He's also hitting it longer than before, there's no doubt. He's killing it, absolutely killing it. If he gets that putter going at all, he'll probably win [the Masters]." Woods, who has admitted to multiple extramarital affairs, decided to skip this year's Tavistock Cup matches, which will conclude today, and this week's Arnold Palmer Invitational tournament in Orlando. "He just feels like he's totally not ready," said Atwal. "But I've seen him win with what he has right now plenty of times on tour." Woods has not played in a tournament since November. He will return to the Masters four wins shy of tying Jack Nicklaus's record of 18 titles in the four professional majors. He has not missed the tournament since making his Augusta debut as an amateur in 1995.