Will Tiger roar at Open?

Hank Haney wasn’t sure what to expect when he met Tiger Woods at Winged Foot to start getting ready for the U.S. Open.

The major is known as the toughest test in golf, and it takes on a new meaning for Woods. It will be the first tournament he has played in nine weeks, his longest break from the game since he climbed out of a high chair and imitated his father by swatting a ball into the net.

It will be his first tournament since standing at his father’s grave.

“I was surprised at how rusty he was,” Haney said. “But that look went away in one hole. And that surprised me even more.”

No one is sure what to expect from the world’s No. 1 player.

When last seen at a golf tournament, Woods walked off the 18th green at Augusta National ready to snap his beloved putter over his knee after seven three-putts that week. It cost him a chance to win a fifth Masters, perhaps one last gift to a father dying of cancer.

Earl Woods died less than a month later.

If there was relief that the suffering was over, there also was a void that was inevitable.

“I don’t really know what to expect next week at the U.S. Open at Winged Foot,” Woods said in his monthly newsletter. “I’ve never had to experience anything in life like this and never had a nine-week layoff before, so we’ll just have to wait and see. Hopefully, my game will be sharp. No matter what happens, it won’t be from lack of effort on my part.”

Woods skipped the Byron Nelson Championship a week after his father died, which was expected. He skipped the Memorial for the first time, surprising to those who thought he would want at least one tournament before the U.S. Open, for no other reason than to be back in a routine and get through the flood of condolences that are sure to meet him.

“The thing about Tiger is that if his game is not ready, he won’t play,” said John Cook, a neighbor at Isleworth in central Florida. “He’s not just going to show up and not be ready. He just started hitting balls and playing holes. It’s not like he’s going to come out here not being fully prepared. The last thing he wants is to not be 100 percent.”

There is ample reason to question how Woods will perform.

This is only the fourth time he has failed to play any tournament between majors.