Woods probably won’t be rusty

The last time he played, in mid-December at his own tournament, the Target World Challenge, Tiger Woods boarded his jet afterward for a skiing trip to Colorado. His clubs were not invited, but Woods didn’t want them to feel neglected, so from the jet, he called his swing coach, Hank Haney.

“He wanted a list, ‘What’s our plan?’ ” Haney said. “He said he needed to be thinking about something when he was off skiing.”

The plan is simple, Haney said, and it’s going to be in evidence this week at the Buick Invitational at Torrey Pines, where Woods not only makes his 2007 PGA Tour debut, but also arrives with a winning streak of six tour events.

“His thirst to always improve is unmatched,” Haney said. “He focuses better than anyone I’ve ever seen. There’s no doubt it’s pretty cool being next to him.

“His only concern is, ‘What do I need to do today to get better than yesterday?’ That’s the thing that makes him so unique. It’s just not his style to stay the same. There’s no secret in it, like ‘OK, I’m going to stay with this.’ That’s not the way he thinks.”

Woods enters his 11th full year on the PGA Tour with 54 victories, eight of them last year and two of them majors, giving him 12 for his career. Haney and Woods worked together two weeks ago at Orlando and spent five 12-hour days, playing golf, working out at the gym, practicing Woods’ short game and his distance control at the range.

Woods has spent the last three days working with Haney at Shady Canyon Golf Club in Irvine, where Woods is a member.

Even though Woods hasn’t played since winning his event at Sherwood Country Club, Haney said the layoff doesn’t seem to matter, judging by how the practice has been going.

“He’s been good,” Haney said. “That was one of his comments to me, he feels like his game comes back a lot quicker now. He’s always at a level he’s playing with, and he wasn’t really rusty at all.”

Woods’ philosophy means there’s room for improvement, no matter what level he’s playing, according to Haney.

“You start off, he’s got a real good awareness of his swing. Obviously, his iron play is pretty darned good. More consistency with his driver would be nice. His putting, his short game, I think he could maybe improve. There’s always something that can get better.”

Woods may be hard-pressed to duplicate the success he enjoyed in 2006. He won the British Open and the PGA Championship; won his eighth player-of-the-year award, his seventh PGA Tour money title (with $9.9 million) and his seventh Byron Nelson Award for the lowest scoring average (68.11).

His 12 major titles bring him closer to Jack Nicklaus’ record of 18 and because Woods has won the last two, he’s halfway to his second so-called Tiger Slam -- holding all four major championships at the same time.

“His focus is always the same,” Haney said. “He obviously puts himself in position to win. Twelve majors show that. I don’t see why he can’t win those [next] two.

“The rich get richer. When you’ve had so much experience like he’s had, it’s hard to think that’s not an advantage.”

Woods has won four times at Torrey Pines, so he’s coming back into a comfortable arena, despite his layoff of five weeks.

“He’ll get off to a good start,” Haney said. “Wait and see.”

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thomas.bonk@latimes.com