Abu Dhabi: Tiger Woods is all set to make his Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship debut on Thursday in what he believes is his cleanest bill of physical and mental health in well over a decade.
Having won his first tournament in 107 weeks in December last year, having seemingly recovered from a spate of injuries and the prolonged fallout from the 2009 troubles in his personal life, Woods — a winner of 14 majors — is now upbeat before the start of his 2012 season, the supposed year of his much anticipated return to form.
Speaking at a pre-event interview in the capital yesterday, Woods said: "It's been quite a few years since I've been physically fit. So I'm looking forward to getting out there playing and giving it a full season, which I haven't done in a while. It's probably been eight, 10, 12 years [since full fitness]. I had surgeries in 2002, 2008 and a couple of other ones in there, too.
"The game plan is still the same. Every event I play in I try to win. That's what's going to hold me back obviously if I don't play well, and there's also going to be plenty of other guys in the field that are going to have a chance.
"There's a number of factors, and that's what makes golf so interesting — that it's very difficult to win golf tournaments. And to do it consistently over a long period of time, it's not easy.
"I was able to get fit enough to prepare towards the end of last year. I demonstrated to myself what I can do with implementing what [coach] Sean [Foley] wants me to do on the golf swing, if I'm physically fit [enough] to do it.
Continuing to build
"I played really well in my last three events, so I'm really looking forward to this year and continuing and building on what we have done towards the end of last year.
"To play and put myself in contention and almost win the Australian Open, and then play even better at The Presidents Cup, that led into what I did at the World Challenge. It was just a building process. I had to get healthy first and, once I did, things started snowballing the correct way.
"I think it's just about getting W's [wins] along the way. That's what I'm trying to do, trying to get better each and every year and trying to get wins — just every part of my life, just try to get better. Unfortunately I only had one win last year and I would like to get more than that this year. I'm really looking forward to that.
"I know how to get it done. I've been there before and it shouldn't feel any different. You just go out there and you play, and you continue building and you focus on what you're trying to do to win the tournament.
"I think it's where a lot of my past successes allowed me to be able to do that. I've won at all levels, from junior to amateur and professional golf, so I think it's a lot of experience that certainly helps."
