Tiger rules out reunion with former coach

PONTE VEDRA, Florida, (Ticker) - Tiger Woods has ruled out any possibility of a reunion with his old coach Butch Harmon.

Speculation that the world's No. 1 player might rehire Harmon increased following Woods' limp performance at last week's Bay Hill Invitational. He was seeking to become the first player to win the same PGA Tour event five times in a row, but finished tied for 46th, his worst result in five years.

"Butch and I are still friends, but as far as asking for help on my swing, no," Woods said Tuesday while preparing for this week's Players Championship. "There's no doubt Butch has helped me a lot (but) I didn't really work a lot with Butch the last two or three years (before splitting in the summer of 2002).

With the Masters only a few weeks away, some wondered whether he would bite the bullet and once again seek out Harmon, who has expressed a willingness to take his former star pupil back under his wing.

"Our biggest task was from '97 through '98, when I changed my swing to where it's at now," Woods said. "After that, it was basically kind of maintenance. I've been doing that the last two years a lot on my own."

Woods hasn't worked with any swing coach since dumping Harmon. Although he never admitted it, it was believed Woods was upset that Harmon was working with so many other players, and that he was too eager to soak up the media limelight. Woods likes all members of his entourage to stay in the background and avoid the media.

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