Tiger Woods expects progress at Greenbrier as link with rival’s ex-wife denied

Tiger Woods expects some improvements, however slight, in his game when the PGA Greenbrier Classic begins on Thursday even as he was romantically linked to a rival’s ex-wife.

The 39-year-old 14-time major champion, in the midst of the worst season of his career, missed the cut at last month’s US Open at Chambers Bay with rounds of 80 and 76, the worst 36-hole effort of his career.

“I’ve made a little bit of progress. Obviously, that’s not saying much,” Woods said. “I’m looking forward to getting out there and competing.”

Woods, the former world number one who has slumped to 220th in the rankings, makes his only tune-up for the British Open in two weeks at St Andrews against a field whose only top-10 rival is third-ranked Bubba Watson, the two-time Masters champion coming off a PGA victory last week.

Woods, who shared 17th at the Masters in his only decent showing this year, was again the subject of tabloid reports on Wednesday as the National Enquirer stated Woods and US ski star Lindsey Vonn split up in May after two years together because she caught Woods cheating on her with Amanda Boyd, a 27-year-old who in March divorced star golfer Jason Dufner, the 2013 PGA Championship winner.

Mark Steinberg, the agent for Woods, told Fox News the report linking Woods to Boyd was “Absolutely 100 percent false,” and a “Complete lie and fabrication”. He told the Golf Channel the story was “categorically false” and a “ridiculous rumour”.

Woods had a secret sex life with more than a dozen mistresses revealed in 2009, a scandal that led to his divorce from Elin Nordegren in 2010.

He has not won a major title since the scandal erupted, ruining his good-guy clean cut image and as a result saw his endorsement deals suffer a major blow.