Arnold Palmer does not expect to see Tiger Woods at Augusta

Arnold Palmer believes Tiger Woods can recapture his world-beating form but was not overly hopeful about seeing him at Augusta in three weeks.

“He was quietly optimistic he might be doing that but I think he’s going to take his time and I think he should,” the host of this week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational said during Golf Channel’s telecast of Thursday’s opening round.

“I think he should figure everything out and get going,” said Palmer, who a week ago counseled Woods to recoup his self-assurance by beating a bunch of balls.

“There’s only one thing I can say, and that’s practice and confidence,” Palmer said Thursday in his annual Bay Hill news conference. “Regain the confidence he had when he was starting out. That was what made him what he is, and that’s the way he’ll get it back, just regain the confidence and ability to hit the golf ball.”

That mammoth gator patrolling the fairways south of Bay Hill may be the only being alive without a view on how Woods can work his way out of the monstrous slump that forced him to the sidelines indefinitely. Palmer’s tip for the 14-time major champion -- who missed the cut in Phoenix after a career-worst 82 and withdrew from the Farmers Insurance Open -- was to trust himself.

“This is an opinion that I haven’t even given to anybody, and that is he should do what he thinks he should do with his game,” said Palmer, whom Woods called to express his regrets for missing Arnie’s event for the second straight season. “I think he should find a coach that he has confidence in, and go work on his game. That’s my best advice.”

On Thursday, Palmer contended that Tiger would rebound, but not without difficulty and probably not in time for the Masters.

“I think he still can be the player he always was but it’s developing that confidence back that he had and that’s going to be tough,” Palmer said. “It’s going to take him a little bit but I have a feeling he’ll be back.”