Tiger Woods is scheduled to tee off on Thursday in the first round of the 2014 Open Championship. Although he's been sidelined for the past four months recovering from back surgery, Woods is optimistic he can come away from the tournament with a win.
A back injury led to Woods undergoing surgery on March 31. He's played in only one competitive tournament since then - last month's Quicken Loans National, where he shot 74-75 and missed the cut - but believes the lack of competitive games won't prevent him from winning The Open Championship.
"I've been in circumstances like this," Woods said during a 30-minute press conference Tuesday, via ESPN. "If you remember in '08 I had knee surgery right after the Masters. I won a U.S. Open. I didn't play more than nine holes, and the Sunday before the U.S. Open I didn't break 50 for nine holes and still was able to win it in a playoff, with an [torn] ACL and broken leg.
"I've proven I can do it. It's just a matter of putting my game and giving myself the best chances this week to miss the ball in the correct spots, to be aggressive when I can and obviously to hole putts. That's a recipe you find for every major championship, but I've just got to do it this week."
Woods played an 18-hole practice round Tuesday, and he admitted he's continuing to knock off the rust.
"It's getting better," he said. "Playing at Congressional [Quicken Loans National] was a big boost to me. The fact that I was able to go at it that hard and hit it like that with no pain. It wasn't like that the previous time I played. Playing at both Honda and Doral [in March] I did not feel well.
"But to come back and be able to hit the ball as hard as I was able to hit it. I've gotten stronger since then, I've gotten more explosive, I've gotten faster since then. That's going to be the case. I'm only going to get stronger and faster, which is great."
Woods, 38, is entering the twilight of his career and it's uncertain if he will be able to break Jack Nicklaus' major championship record of 18 or Sam Snead's record of 82 PGA Tour wins; he currently has 14 major championship wins and 79 PGA Tour wins.
Woods is scheduled to tee off at 4:04 a.m. ET on Thursday.
