Tiger Woods plays home game at Honda Classic, but has Georgia on his mind

Tiger Woods hoped some home cooking and sleeping on his own firm bunk would help him shrug off a wretched start to his 2014 season and surge into contention at this week’s Honda Classic, the first of a series of events marked as tuneups for Augusta.

The 14-time major champion looked forward to the comforts of familiar quarters on the eve of his third worldwide start of the year but, with the Masters just six weeks away, he suggested he may modify his travel plans between now and April 10.

“Still looking into that, yeah,” Woods, evasive as ever, told reporters Wednesday about his agenda, which at this point includes two Florida locales -- Doral next week and Bay Hill two weeks later. “Still looking to possibly make some changes going in there.”

With just two worldwide events played in 2014 heading into Thursday’s Honda kickoff, Woods may rue missing last week’s match play tourney. If he’s looking for additional reps, Woods could play the Valspar Championship in mid-March, the Valero Texas Open late in the month, or the Shell Houston Open. Since playing a week before the Masters would be a first for him, Houston is least likely venue to host him.

Woods may also decide to head to Augusta earlier than usual. Swing coach Hank Haney said last year that his former pupil was a slacker when it came to pre-major prep, though, but for that pesky flagstick in last year’s second round, Tiger could easily have donned his fifth green jacket.

In the meantime, there’s the matter of the Honda, where the world No. 1 will face a field of studs, including Adam Scott, Rory McIlroy, and Phil Mickelson, who also view this week as the official start of spring training.

“I think once we get to Florida, I think we’re all thinking about our way to Augusta,” said Woods, who focused more on fitness than golf in the offseason and noted Wednesday that he spent much of his time since returning from the Middle East working on his short game. “Most of the guys are getting pretty serious about their prep.”

Pronouncing himself “pleasantly surprised” on Wednesday with a swing that gives Johnny Miller nightmares, Woods still has work to do to be ready for the first major of the season. He missed the 54-hole cut at Torrey Pines and finished in a tie for 41st in Dubai.

Given Woods’ strong aversion to sluggish greens, the 7,241-yard, par-70 layout at PGA National -- ranked as the toughest non-major circuit on tour last year, and where he has compiled a T37 (2013) and T2 (2012) record as a pro -- could present a formidable challenge to the 79-time tour winner.

“The fairways are a little bit spotty with all the rain we’ve had ... and most of the balls I hit [from] the fairway had mud on them,” Woods said. “I didn’t expect the greens to be this slow. ... They have kept them slower than they normally are and we’re going to have to make a few adjustments there.”

At least Woods won’t have to adjust to strange surroundings. With a 7:35 a.m. ET tee time on No. 10 with Keegan Bradley and Zach Johnson on Thursday, Woods envisioned watching his favorite programs, getting a good night’s sleep and taking a short drive to work from his home in Jupiter Island to Palm Beach Gardens.

After complaining that a soft hotel mattress caused nagging back pain down the stretch of last season, hanging out in his own deluxe lodgings sounded like a good plan to Woods.

“I love playing here. It’s always nice to be in your own bed, in your own home,” Woods said. “I’m going home to my own remote, to my own bed, and those are things that we don’t get a chance to do very often.”