Saturday 28 January 2017 13:31, UK
Tiger Woods remains confident he can shake off the rust as he took the positives out of his curtailed return to PGA Tour action at the Farmers Insurance Open.
Woods added a second-round 72 to his opening 76 at Torrey Pines to miss the halfway cut by four shots in his first full-field tournament in almost 18 months.
The seven-time champion was happy with his form on the greens over the two rounds, but he admitted he still had much work to do on his long game, which he feels will come when he gets a few more competitive rounds under his belt.
Woods insisted his second round over the North Course represented a vast improvement over Thursday's wayward effort in which he hit only four of 14 fairways, and he will look to build on that as he heads to the Omega Dubai Desert Classic.
"It's frustrating not being able to have a chance to win the tournament," said Woods after finishing on four over par - 12 shots behind halfway leader Justin Rose. "I just didn't make enough birdies and I didn't make the cut.
"But overall today was a lot better than yesterday. I hit it better, I putted well again and I hit a lot of beautiful putts that didn't go in. We've fixed a few things while playing today which was good and good communication between my caddie Joey and I out there. That was good because he's rusty as well as me.
"I felt like I made some nice strides, but I just wish I could be playing at the weekend because I really love this golf course."
Woods made his initial comeback at last month's Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas following a lengthy rehabilitation from back surgery, and he led the 17-player field in birdies but littered his card with six double-bogeys.
He added: "You saw it at Hero I made so many dumb mistakes out there. I made plenty of birdies but I made just a ton of dumb mistakes. Playing tournament golf is a little bit different than playing with your buddies at home on a cart and so I need to get more rounds under my belt more playing time and that's what I'm trying to do."
The 41-year-old also admitted he was wary of the cool conditions in California, but he managed to get through 36 holes without suffering any kind of injury setback.
"It's a long process in the mornings, trying to get ready, trying to get warmed up," he said. "The tall order then is just to stay warm and stay loose, and I did."
Woods will now make his ninth appearance in Dubai, after which he will have a week off before playing the Genesis Open at Riviera followed by the Honda Classic - the first event of the Florida Swing.
But he is ultimately gearing up for The Masters in early April as he bids to defy the odds and end a run of almost nine years without a major victory.
"Just like everybody, I'm trying to get ready for the first full week in April," Woods said. "That's where eventually I want to have everything come together. That's the plan. Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to win this golf tournament on the weekend. But I have next week."
