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Tiger targets Rory's record-breaking score

Tiger Woods did not play at the US Open in 2011 © PA Photos

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Tiger Woods is aiming to get one over on Rory McIlroy by bettering the score that earned the Ulsterman the US Open title at Congressional in 2011.

McIlroy claimed his first major with the lowest 72-hole aggregate score (16-under) in US Open history, triumphing by eight shots ahead of second-placed Jason Day.

Woods, who did not play at the 2011 US Open due to injury, will tee it up at Congressional this week for the AT&T National - and he has set his sights on surpassing that 16-under mark.

Woods interrupted a question about what he would like the winning score to be, interjecting with: "Below 16-under? As long as I'm that person, yes."

Meanwhile, Woods has admitted that he has neglected his short-game of late, which he feels explains his disappointing performance across the weekend at this year's US Open: he had 34 putts in the third round and averaged 31 putts a day.

"I would say certainly my short game has been something that has taken a hit, and it did the same thing when I was working with Butch [Harmon, his former coach] and the same thing when I was working with Hank [Haney]," Woods said. "During that period of time, my short game went down, and it's because I was working on my full game.

"Eventually I get to a point where the full game becomes very natural feeling and I can repeat it day after day, and I can dedicate most of my time to my short game again."

When asked about whether he has considered moving to a long putter, Woods said: "I've tried it, and my stroke is infinitely worse. It's just not good. I like the flow of my stroke. I like how I putt.

"Putting with anchoring or even different configurations of a standard grip, my stroke doesn't flow at all. I think I've done all right with mine, and I think I'm going to stick with it."

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