Tiger Woods: "I'm Not That Far Off From Winning"

The 14-time major winner is optimistic about winning another trophy after his T11th finish at The Players Championship

Tiger Woods: "I'm Not That Far Off From Winning"

It has been over four-and-a-half years since his last victory but Tiger Woods is hopeful of lifting another trophy soon after a superb weekend at TPC Sawgrass.

Woods was battling to make the cut on Friday and did so at -1 after 36 holes. He stood at -9 for the tournament just 12 holes later before ending at -8 after three rounds thanks to a scintillating 65.

He followed that up with a 69 on Sunday to end at -11 and tied-11th for the tournament. He has subsequently moved up to 80th in the Official World Golf Ranking and 48th in the FedEx Cup.

Woods made 14 birdies over the weekend and seems to have improved his driving drastically in the past week or so, something that has really let him down so far this year.

The 42-year-old, who has already recorded T2nd and T5th finishes this year, spoke very highly of his game after his final round 69 and appears to genuinely believe that he can be a factor at the top of the game once more.

"Well, I played really good today. I hit it so good. It was nice," he said.

"I had control of it from tee to green; I made some putts; I felt good on basically every facet of the game, and it's weird, not to really mishit a shot today and only shoot 3-under par is just weird, because I played much better than that. I think I got within four or five of the lead at one point, and if I would have played I think the last five holes maybe in 4-, 5-under par, I might have had a chance, and just didn't do it."

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"I felt very comfortable with every facet of my game today. Everything felt good. I had control, I was hitting it high, low, right, left, didn't matter what it was. I felt like I had control of it today."

Woods didn't even know if he'd ever play golf competitively again last year after having a fourth back surgery. Now, he plans on winning and has even surprised himself by how good he is playing after just eight full-field PGA Tour events since that back fusion surgery.

"There's no way I would have predicted I would be at this point the beginning of the year, the way I was just coming back and just trying to get a feel for it and then hopefully have a schedule. Didn't know. But now I feel like I've got my playing feels and I'm playing tournament golf and I've got it -- I'm not that far off from winning golf tournaments."

He also spoke about his goal of playing in the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational in Augusta at Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio. It is the final time it hosts a WGC this year before the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational takes over at TPC Southwind in Memphis next year. Woods has won the Bridgestone at Firestone eight times and it was the scene of his last worldwide victory back in 2013.

"This summer is -- there are some big events to be played, and one of my goals is to get into Akron, one last time, before we leave there. I've won there eight times and I would like to get there with one more chance. But I got to do some work between now and then, hopefully put together one good event."

Tiger Woods' next start is currently set for the US Open at Shinnecock Hills next month.