• Former world No 1: ‘I feel like I can win here’ • American was close in last two majors of 2018

Eleven years separate Tiger Woods and a major triumph. Fourteen have elapsed since he last prevailed at the Masters. As he prepares for a 22nd appearance at Augusta National, Woods cited a relatively trivial gap of 139 miles as the most significant. That distance separates the venue for the year’s first major and East Lake, where Woods returned to winning ways last September. Since 2014, a series of back surgeries had raised doubts over the 14-times major champion’s future in the game.

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“I feel like I can win,” said Woods, 43. “I’ve proven that I can do it. I put myself there with a chance to win the last two major championships of the year last year. I was right there and just needed to have a couple more things to go my way and not throw away a couple shots here and there, which I was able to do at East Lake.

“I just feel like that I’ve improved a lot over the past 12, 14 months but I’ve more than anything just proven to myself that I can play at this level again. I’ve worked my way back into one of the players that can win events.

“For me to have gotten in the winner’s circle after the years I’ve had, the past few years … I didn’t really know if I would ever get there again and lo and behold I got there.

“I’m still working on it, still trying to get better, still trying to win more events. But I think that winning at East Lake confirmed to me that I could still win again. You have to do it first in order to truly understand that you can do it, and after what I’ve been through, it was a great way to cap off the season.”

I didn’t really know if I would ever get there again and lo and behold I got there Tiger Woods

When asked whether he needed or wanted to don the Green Jacket for what would be a fifth time, Woods smiled broadly. “I don’t really need to win again,” he said. “But I really want to.” A more serious reply met whether or not he could have contemplated this wait for another major victory when holding the US Open trophy aloft in 2008.

“I would say that I wouldn’t have foreseen that, for sure,” Woods admitted. “After I won my 14th, I felt like I still had plenty more major championships that I could win but unfortunately I just didn’t do it.

“I put myself there with chances on the back nine on various Sundays and just haven’t done it. Hopefully this year, I put myself there again and hopefully I’ll get it done.”

As ever, there was a nod towards fitness. “The hardest part is I just can’t practise like I used to,” said Woods. “My back gets sore. I just can’t log in the time that I used to and that goes with every part of my game.”

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Woods visited Augusta last Wednesday, when he completed a practice round in just 65 shots and having bogeyed the 1st. Heavy rain that fell in Georgia for much of Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning is likely to have an impact on this Masters test although temperatures of 29C are predicted for the end of this week.

“I know that I can play this golf course,” Woods added. “I’ve had some success here. I just wanted to do a quick scouting trip and get a feel for how this golf course is going to be playing.

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“I played well on top of that. It’s just amazing, over all the years I’ve been here, every time they make a change, it seems like it’s been here for a hundred years.”

Rory McIlroy, the pre-tournament favourite, refused to bow to convention when the prospect of an Augusta weekend joust with Woods was presented to him. “I guess the clichéd answer is it would mean a lot to me but it doesn’t matter who it is,” said the Northern Irishman. “What other people do, it’s none of my business. I have to look after myself and control what I do. That’s all I really have to focus on. I’m very comfortable with this golf course. I think one of the great thing is it forces you to be creative and I like that side of the game.

“I keep saying this, I would dearly love to win this tournament one day. If it doesn’t happen this week, that’s totally fine, I’ll come back next year and have another crack at it. But I’m happy with where everything is, body, mind, game.”