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Australia experience vital to my comeback - Tiger

Tiger Woods is keen to start his season well in Abu Dhabi © Getty Images

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• Profile: Tiger Woods

Tiger Woods believes it was his performances in Australia at the end of last year, not his victory at the Chevron World Challenge, that showed he is ready to contend in the majors during 2012.

Woods marked his return to form with a first win in over two years at the World Challenge event in California in December, albeit against a limited field of just 18 players. However, the 14-time major champion believes it was his shot-making in difficult conditions while Down Under - at the Australian Open and in the Presidents Cup - that really helped rebuild his confidence and set him on the path to contend at the first major of the year, The Masters.

Woods is currently preparing for his first appearance of the season at this week's Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship.

"I certainly did [take confidence from the Chevron win], but I think Australia was probably more," Woods told Sky Sports. "I played really well at the Open, then carried on in the Presidents Cup and basically continued that trend in the World Challenge.

"Australia was big. I hit so many good shots, especially when the wind was howling at 30mph, with gusts at more than that.

"When I went into the World Challenge I was very excited that I had control of my game and it turned out that way. I really controlled my golf ball and the last two holes it was nice to make a couple of key putts. Hopefully I can build on that heading into this year and get ready for Augusta."

Woods - who also admitted he is the fittest he has been at the start of a season for a "long, long time" - is looking forward to competing alongside young upstarts like Rory McIlroy, who is also teeing it up at Abu Dhabi Golf Club.

"I think we are all excited," added Woods. "It's always nice to have everyone playing well at the same time. I've had stretches where there were Vijay [Singh], Phil [Mickelson], myself, Ernie [Els], Goose [Retief Goosen] where we were all playing well.

"Now it's a different generation of guys, so it's very exciting."

A note of caution was sounded by six-time major champion Sir Nick Faldo, however, who wondered if Woods still has the concentration required to win the game's most prestigious tournaments.

"He's fighting a lot of things," Faldo told Golf Monthly. "How good is his knee? How good is he technically? How good is his confidence? His concentration is broken.

"Tiger would win a tournament, disappear, come back, and round one [he would play] without rust. He'd come back and shoot 63 on day one, holing every putt. All that is not as easy as it used to be."

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