Tiger Woods on comeback: 'I wouldn’t put myself out here if I didn’t think I could win'

15-time major champion returns to competitive golf for first time since last summer at Genesis Invitational

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  Tiger Woods practices on the range prior to the Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club on February 14, 2023 in Pacific Palisades, California. Getty

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  PACIFIC PALISADES, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 14: Tiger Woods of the United States practices on the range prior to The Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club on February 14, 2023 in Pacific Palisades, California. Ronald Martinez / Getty Images / AFP (Photo by RONALD MARTINEZ / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)

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  Tiger Woods on the putting green prior to the Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club. AFP

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  Tiger Woods on the putting green prior to the Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club. AFP

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  Tiger Woods and Jason Day talk while practicing on the putting green. Getty

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  Tiger Woods and Jason Day talk while practicing on the putting green. Getty

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  Tiger Woods and Jason Day greet each other on the putting green. AFP

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  Tiger Woods and Rob McNamara, executive vice president at TGR, ride in a cart at Riviera Country Club. Getty

Tiger Woods may be making his competitive comeback after seven months out, but he was explicit in his target at this week’s Genesis Invitational – he’s there to win.

“I wouldn’t put myself out here if I didn’t think I could beat these guys and win the event," Woods said on Tuesday at a pre-tournament news conference. “That’s my mentality. I’ve come off rusty situations before.

“Plus I know this golf course. Haven’t had a lot of success here. But I knew what to practise for, the shots to hit."

Woods, 47, has not played an official event since missing cut at the Open at St Andrew’s in July, but made the surprise announcement on Friday that he will be teeing it up at Riviera Country Club – the tournament his foundation hosts – from Thursday.

The 15-time major champion, who has been drawn in the opening two rounds alongside Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas, has played only three tournaments in the past year as he continues his recovery from a serious leg injury sustained in a car accident in February 2021.

The single-car crash occurred the day following the Genesis Invitational, where Woods had not competed.

"If I'm playing, I'm playing to win," the American said. "Making a cut is a great thing but if I'm entering an event it is always to get a ‘W’.

"There will come a point in time when my body won't allow me to do that and it's probably sooner than later. But wrapping my head around that transition and being in an ambassador role - just playing and just trying to be with the guys out there - it is not in my DNA."

In the past 12 months, Woods finished 47th at the Masters and withdrew after three rounds of the US PGA Championship. In December, he partnered McIlroy in an exhibition match-play event against Thomas and Spieth, while he took part in the PNC Championship with his son, Charlie, that same month.

Woods was slated also to play in the Hero World Challenge at the beginning of December – his foundation hosts that tournament, too – but withdrew because of plantar fasciitis. Woods said on Tuesday that he is still dealing with the issue.

"Would I like to play more? Yes," he said. "Would [my health] allow me to? I don't know. I have to be realistic about that.

"As far as the recovery, it's more my ankle, whether I can recover from day to day. The leg is better than it was last year, but it's my ankle.

“So being able to have it recover from day to day and meanwhile still stress it but have the recovery and also have the strength development at the same time, it's been an intricate little balance that we've had to dance."

Woods, who remains at a joint-record 82 career PGA Tour titles, made his professional debut at Riviera in 1992 while still an amateur in high school. This week will mark his 15th start in the event – meaning it sits as the tournament he has competed in the most without winning.

The Californian said he struggles still to walk 72 holes in four days, but that he was planning on playing the Masters, the year’s first major and a tournament he has won five times, at Augusta in April. Woods triumphed there in 2019, his most recent major victory.

A vocal opponent to the breakaway LIV Golf Tour, Woods said he recognises there could be tension at the annual Champions Dinner at Augusta, as players from LIV and the traditional tours meet.

"I don't know what that reaction's going to be," Woods said. "I know that some of our friendships have certainly taken a different path, but we'll see when all that transpires."