Tiger Woods confirms he’s now making full swings with his driver

Tiger Woods, missing from the Augusta National tee sheet for the second time in three years, confirmed Wednesday night that he had amped up his practice routine and was hitting the big dog on his home course in Jupiter, Fla.

Golf Channel’s Rosaforte had reported earlier that evening that the four-time Masters winner was going all out in his efforts to return to competitive golf after three back operations.

Rosaforte’s reports came on the heels of Augusta chair Billy Payne telling reporters during his annual state of the Masters address on Wednesday that he believed Tiger would be back “fairly quickly” from his rehab stint, which began shortly after his last competitive turn in August at the Wyndham Championship.

“Last night [Woods] looked good, he looked better than me,” said Payne, who underwent “very major” back surgery in November and visited with Woods Tuesday night at the Champions Dinner. “I was delighted -- he’s encouraged, I could tell the fire’s building back up in his belly, and I suspect Tiger’s going to be back fairly quickly, and I’m looking forward to it.”

Woods’ agent also told ESPN on Sunday that his client expected to get back to the PGA Tour sometime this year. Certainly good news for fans of the 14-time major champion, who just last month posted a home video of himself hitting a gentle 9-iron into a simulator, with the message, “Progressing nicely.”

Woods announced last week he had to skip this week’s Masters tournament. He missed the 2014 tournament after undergoing his first back procedure a week before Augusta. He came back in June that year after the U.S. Open but then required another three-month break before returning for his Hero World Challenge in December.

Rosaforte last March reported that Tiger had scored a “worst-ball” 66 at Medalist shortly before Woods returned from an injury- and chipping yips-related hiatus to card a T17 at the Masters. With continuing rehab from three back operations forcing him out of this week’s Masters, Woods noted an oft-repeated message that there was no timetable for his return to competitive golf.

Let the guessing games begin as to when Tiger will take his next swing in competition. The Players, anyone?

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