Tiger Woods says he feels in better shape than he thought he would ahead of the WGC-CA Championships at Doral on Thursday.
The world number one only returned to action from an eight-month lay-off due to knee surgery a fortnight ago when he featured at the WGC-Accenture Match Play. However he is now looking forward to his first strokeplay event in nine months over the course of this weekend.
Woods, who lost to South Africa's Tim Clark in the second round of WGC-Accenture Match Play, will give his surgically reconstructed knee a tougher test in Miami as it is a no cut tournament. And, the 33-year-old will also be aware that Spain's Sergio Garcia could replace him as world number one in the rankings following 144 weeks at the top.
However as he looks forward to getting back out on the course, Woods said: "I thought I'd be a little more sore than I was. Recovery from day-to-day has been great, it couldn't have been more positive.
"It was a big shot of confidence for me to get out there and play again and feel physically sound.
"Physically I feel good, but getting into a strokeplay event where you're not playing an opponent and you're playing the golf course again, I'll have a better idea when the tournament is done."
Woods' absence has seen his lead at the top of the rankings eaten away as he had a lead of 11.328 ranking points over second-placed Phil Mickelson just before undergoing knee surgery. However he now leads current number two Garcia by just 1.59 points ahead of the WGC-CA Championships.
A win for Garcia will mean Woods must finish higher than 27th place to ensure he continues his reign at the top of the world rankings by Sunday evening.
The world number one only returned to action from an eight-month lay-off due to knee surgery a fortnight ago when he featured at the WGC-Accenture Match Play. However he is now looking forward to his first strokeplay event in nine months over the course of this weekend.
Woods, who lost to South Africa's Tim Clark in the second round of WGC-Accenture Match Play, will give his surgically reconstructed knee a tougher test in Miami as it is a no cut tournament. And, the 33-year-old will also be aware that Spain's Sergio Garcia could replace him as world number one in the rankings following 144 weeks at the top.
However as he looks forward to getting back out on the course, Woods said: "I thought I'd be a little more sore than I was. Recovery from day-to-day has been great, it couldn't have been more positive.
"It was a big shot of confidence for me to get out there and play again and feel physically sound.
"Physically I feel good, but getting into a strokeplay event where you're not playing an opponent and you're playing the golf course again, I'll have a better idea when the tournament is done."
Woods' absence has seen his lead at the top of the rankings eaten away as he had a lead of 11.328 ranking points over second-placed Phil Mickelson just before undergoing knee surgery. However he now leads current number two Garcia by just 1.59 points ahead of the WGC-CA Championships.
A win for Garcia will mean Woods must finish higher than 27th place to ensure he continues his reign at the top of the world rankings by Sunday evening.