Tiger on the prowl at Harding Park

has no concerns over his preparation for the PGA Championship. He’s in a confident mood as he chases a 16th major title.

Woods has only made one competitive appearance since the PGA Tour resumed amid the coronavirus pandemic in June – the Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village.

In his long-awaited return last month, Woods finished 15 strokes adrift of champion Jon Rahm and tied for 40th. The former world No. 1 struggled with a stiff back that has proven troublesome in recent years following surgery.

Woods is now in San Francisco for the PGA at TPC Harding Park, where the four-time winner will play alongside Rory McIlroy and new No. 1 Justin Thomas in the opening round behind closed doors

Nbecause of Covid-19.

The 44-year-old Woods shrugged off the lack of spectators for the first major of 2020, telling reporters: “As far as the focus part of it, I haven’t had a problem with that. Those four (Memorial) rounds, I was pretty into it.

“It’s different than most of the times when you go from green-to-tee, people yelling or trying to touch you. That part is different.

“As far as energy while I’m competing and playing, no, that’s the same. I’m pretty intense when I play and pretty into what I’m doing.

“I don’t know if anyone in our generation has ever played without fans in a major championship. It’s going to be very different.

“But it’s still a major championship. It’s still the best players in the world. We all understand that going into it, so there’s going to be plenty of energy from the competitive side.”

Woods added: “I feel good. Obviously I haven’t played much competitively, but I’ve been playing a lot at home... (I am) very enthusiastic about some of the changes I’ve made and so that’s been positive.

“We’ve got a lot of big events starting from here, so looking forward to it. This is going to be a fun test for all of us.” – Agencies