Roaring Tiger will help.

Roaring Tiger will help raise bar again TIGER WOODS ' former coach Butch Harmon is hoping golf's big beast comes roaring back from injury louder than ever. Woods has been out of action since winning the US Open last June with a knee injury and misses out on the defence of his Dubai Desert Classic title this week. The world No.1 is expected to make a comeback this year with many expecting he will target the Masters in April to make his competitive return. In his absence, the playing field has levelled out, giving other players a chance, with Padraig Harrington winning the final two Majors of 2008. But Harmon, in town to officially open his Butch Harmon School of Golf at Dubai Sports City today, believes a fitter, stronger and better Woods will be good for the game this year. Harmon, who turned Woods into the best player on the planet, is confident he will return - and the rest of the world had better be ready. "We hope he (Tiger) comes back. When you have had four surgeries on the same knee you don't know how strong it is going to be, but I hope he will come back," Harmon told 7DAYS during a preview of his new academy at The Els Club. "I'll tell you one thing; when Tiger Woods does come back he will come back ready to win because he doesn't come out just to get ready. He won't come out unless he feels he is ready to win. "Let's hope that is sooner rather than later because we need him to come back. He's the greatest player I've seen. "We hope he comes back bigger and stronger because it'll make the other guys work even harder because you want to beat the best. And Tiger Woods is the best. "You just hope he comes back and the knee is strong. For him to come out and get another injury on the knee would be devastating." While we wait to see if Woods comes out firing, Harmon believes Harrington could be the one making the headlines again this year. Harrington will go into the first Major of 2009 - the Masters - as one of the favourites and on course to complete the 'Grand Slam' by holding all four Majors at the same time. And Harmon, who counts Ernie Els, Adam Scott and Phil Mickelson as his pupils, believes the Irishman has the game to win at Augusta. "Is Harrington capable of winning The Masters? You bet he is. He's actually the only one capable of winning the Grand Slam. If you win four in a row they call it a mini-Slam as it is not in the same season, but anyone who wins four in a row for me it's a Grand Slam. "He's what I call an over-achiever. He may not look as impressive as a Tiger Woods or an Ernie Els might look, but he's dedicated. He's a fighter. He will fight you and fight you and he has to be considered as one of the favourites. "You need to be a good putter and have an imaginative short game if you want to win and Harrington has that." Harmon, meanwhile, admitted he is jealous of the set-up of his golf school at Dubai Sports City. The 65-year-old, who has his headquarters in Las Vegas, opens his state-of-the-art Dubai academy today, which will be run by his son Claude Harmon III, with Justin Parsons as the head teaching pro. And Harmon told 7DAYS: "This is a better facility than my headquarters in Vegas. "We have the best technology; the experience of a student coming through here will be the exact experience the world's top players get. It's a golf school for every player - experienced, beginner, junior." And he laid down the gauntlet to potential Butch Harmon School of Golf pupils: "There's nothing like it in the world, If you don't get better after coming here then it's your fault."

2009 Al Sidra Media LLC

Provided by Syndigate.info an Albawaba.com company