Roger Federer (L) and Tiger Woods (Xinhua Photo)

Two usually dominant athletes who crashed and burned in their most recent competition got together in Florida Wednesday where tennis great Roger Federer sneaked inside the gallery ropes to join Tiger Woods during a practice round for the WGC-CA Championship at the Doral Resort.

Woods "underperformed" finishing tied for 22nd Sunday in the Arnold Palmer Invitational, while the Swede lost in the second round of the Pacific Life Open, ending his winning streak at 41 matches. Both expect to be back at the top of their game this week when Woods seeks a warmup win before the Masters and Federer starts a new win streak at the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne.

"I've definitely fixed it," Woods said of the swing flaws that plagued him last week. "You look back at the finish (double bogey, triple bogey on the last two holes), and I hit bad shots."

In the 33 times Woods has finished out of the top 20 in Tour events, he has won the next tournament 11 times.

"I had over 12 days" to get ready, said Federer.

The two dined on Woods' yacht Tuesday night, and Wednesday morning Federer watched Woods play a practice round at Doral's Blue Monster. Woods fixed it so Federer could walk inside the ropes, avoiding the crush of fans but in violation of PGA Tour rules.

"I'm sure I'll get fined," said Woods, who intends to watch Federer's match this weekend.

"It's pretty neat when you have probably the most dominant athlete on the planet out there in your gallery," Woods said. "What he has done over the last three years is pretty good."

Federer says he and Woods aren't concerned about who is more dominant in their sport.

"We're the last two guys to care about that," Federer said.

Woods knows one thing: He gets more recognition in the USA.

"I don't know if you would call that an advantage or a disadvantage," he said.

Editor: Donald