Howell reports Tiger 'looking good' on practice range

FROM THE CBS SPORTS.COM WEBSITE
By Steve Elling, CBSSports.com Senior Writer
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Florida -- Now that Tiger Woods has begun picking up the pieces of his professional life, too, a couple of important questions remain unanswered.
As in, how does he look and when will he return?
(Fellow US Tour player) Charles Howell can answer one of those questions.
"I spent an hour with him yesterday," Howell said Tuesday at the Honda Classic.
As reported first on CBSSports.com, Woods was spotted hitting balls Sunday afternoon on the Isleworth Country Club practice range, located across the street from the house where his fateful car crash took place in the wee hours after Thanksgiving Day.
The world No. 1 was back on the range Monday, too, when Howell spotted him on the way to the club to work out.
Howell, who had just returned from finishing fourth on Sunday at the Phoenix Open, stopped and had his first lengthy exchange with Woods since, ironically, Thanksgiving Day, when they were both practising their games on the same range.
For those seeking an early scouting report, Howell said Woods looked well and was none the worse for rust.
"Honestly, he looked as good as he ever has," Howell said. "Seriously, he seemed like he was hitting it the same as he ever did."
Until the past two days, outside of a staged photo op before his public apology on February 19, Woods hadn't been spotted on a golf course in three months. Howell said they exchanged some friendly chit-chat Monday, but he didn't ask any probing questions. Woods will get enough of that eventually from others.
"Look, I am as curious as anybody about when he is going to play," Howell said. "But I didn't want to ask him about that. I just couldn't."
Howell was hesitant to say much. He and Woods have been friendly for years and Howell was one of a small handful of players who received an invitation to Woods' wedding. In fact, Howell made a joke when he was asked if he had happened to see anybody famous on the Isleworth range on Monday.
"Famous? Yeah, I saw Ryan Longwell, kicker for the Minnesota Vikings," Howell deadpanned. "You've heard of him, right?"
Longwell, like Woods and Howell, is an Isleworth resident and member, and Longwell is a former Isleworth club champion. But no, that's not exactly the trophy-winner to whom we were referring.
"Tiger looked good," Howell said. "He seemed in OK spirits, considering."
As for Woods' comeback plans, though, Howell didn't venture a guess. It seems logical for Woods to play in the unofficial Tavistock Cup, staged the Monday and Tuesday of the week of the Arnold Palmer Invitational, which starts March 25. The two-day Tavistock event is not open to the public, is contested before a small crowd and will be played at Isleworth, and the Palmer event is played just a few miles from his suburban Orlando home on a course where he has won six professional titles.
Woods could play both events and would never have to leave town, so he could still tend to his considerable familial issues, which he said are his priority.
In fact, it's unclear whether Woods intends to play at the Masters in April, and if he skips the first major, there's no reason to rush back at all. But the fact that he's practising suggests that Woods is ramping up to something, no?
"Honestly, I have no idea," Howell said.