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Woods buoyant about the future

Tiger Woods has cut a frustrated figure on the golf course in recent times © Getty Images

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Tiger Woods has warned his rivals that it will not be long before he starts winning tournaments again, although the former world No. 1 admits he is still fine tuning his swing.

The 14-time major champion, who will end the year without a title for the first time in his professional career, has endured a tough 12 months both on and off the golf course.

After his much-publicised marital problems, Woods returned to competitive action in April but has struggled to find any consistency on the course and, subsequently, he was relieved of his world No. 1 tag for the first time in 281 weeks when England's Lee Westwood usurped him.

After finishing fourth at the Australian Masters, Woods admitted he was pleased with certain aspects of his game and is feeling upbeat about the future.

"I finally got it going on Sunday, when I played the last six holes 6-under par and shot 65," he said on his website Tigerwoods.com. "I can't wait until I can do that for an entire tournament.

"It just takes time to build. You just have to go piece by piece. Before, I couldn't even do it on the driving range and now I can. Now, after working with Sean Foley, I can do it on the golf course sporadically, then it becomes more consistent. Eventually, it becomes a full 18 holes and beyond that, a full tournament.

Woods, 34, admitted that he deserved to lose his world No. 1 crown but, having overcome personal anguish, the American revealed his passion for winning is as strong as ever.

"The drive is still the same: to win golf tournaments. I had a pretty good run at No. 1 - 281 consecutive weeks - but you only stay there if you win," he said.

"It's good to see the next generation of players stepping up, because it's great for the game. My generation was Ernie Els, Phil, Retief Goosen and Vijay Singh. Those are the guys I went head-to-head with. But regardless of age, my goal is to beat whoever is in the field.

"Obviously, this has been a very difficult year for me and my family, on and off the golf course. I got through the year, and I'm in a much better place than I was a year ago and my life has balance. It was a lot more difficult than people could possibly imagine."

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