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Tiger prepared for Torrey Pines after practice round

[January 24, 2018] Tiger Woods is back on the comeback trail and hoping things go better than last year's aborted attempt.

The 42-year-old Woods begins his latest comeback on Thursday at the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines and pronounced himself ready to go after playing a nine-hole practice round Tuesday.

"I've had a little more time to get ready for this event," Woods told reporters after the round on the South Course in La Jolla, just north of San Diego. "I've played a lot more golf and, overall, I feel like I've made some nice changes. I feel good. It's just a matter of coming out here and competing again."

Woods underwent his fourth back surgery in April just two-plus months after having to halt last year's comeback attempt.

He was optimistic when he showed up at Torrey Pines for the 2017 Farmers Insurance Open but he ended up missing the cut. Then he withdrew the following week in Dubai due to the back pain and he eventually underwent the latest surgery.

This time around, there is a feeling that Woods is better positioned to handle the demands and manage his health. He says his back is significantly improved, and practice-round partners Jason Day and Bryson DeChambeau were both impressed with what they saw while golfing with Woods on Tuesday.

"The other times he came back I don't think he was ready and he probably came back too soon," Day told reporters after the round. "This time he definitely looks ready. I think his swing is really nice, he's hitting the driver a long way and he looks like he's got some speed, which is great. And his touch is coming back."

DeChambeau had never previously played a round with Woods -- "There were a couple of moments I was like, 'I am playing with the greatest,'" he said -- but liked what he witnessed.

"I expect he will come back to full form, I really think so," DeChambeau said. "His passion is there, his drive is there and if he gets it going, it is going to be scary for everybody again."

Torrey Pines has long been a course of great moments for Woods, who regularly dominated the greens while winning junior titles as a child growing up in southern California.

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He has won the PGA Tour stop seven times (most recently in 2013), and there is also his memorable 2008 U.S. Open victory on the course when he outlasted Rocco Mediate in the famous 91-hole showdown. That represented Woods' 14th major victory -- and he hasn't won one since.

Woods did play in a competitive event in the Bahamas less than two months ago -- he finished ninth among 18 golfers in the Hero World Challenge -- but this week's tourney is just his second PGA Tour event since playing in the Wyndham Championships in Aug. 2015.

Woods also is tackling this event without a coach and he continues to try to deflect expectations of his performance.

But he doesn't shy away from this: The repeated back woes have turned him into a different golfer.

"The only big deal about it is that no one really understands what it's like to have a fused back and be able to play," Woods said. "It's not about how the swing actually looks like. You can get into positions and things of that nature and there are a lot of things I can't do anymore because of the nature of the fusion. So I'm relying on feel and my past performances."

Woods begins the week ranked 647th in the world, a vast difference from being No. 1. But the rankings won't matter when he shows up for his 10:40 a.m. PT tee time (1:40 p.m. ET) on Thursday when he is paired with Charley Hoffman and Patrick Reed.

"I'm trying to build in golf endurance," Woods said. "So I'm hitting a lot of golf balls and building up my endurance. You have to do it. You have to beat balls for a little bit of time to build up your endurance and muscles.

"I feel like I've done that and now it's time to play a tournament."

--Field Level Media
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