Tiger Woods has a relatively mediocre Players Championship record, failing to crack the top 10 since his lone victory in 2001 as he looks to Thursday's start of the famed US PGA event.
"I haven?t really put all the pieces together and you have to have that in order to win this tournament," Woods said on Tuesday.
"It?s very similar to a major championship. You can?t hit the ball well and not putt well, or vice-versa. You have to have everything going together at the same time."
Woods approves of the Sawgrass TPC course set-up this week, with wispy rough that will allow for recovery shots from bad drives along with greens that are expected to be firm unless it rains heavily.
Just as Woods has struggled to put all facets of his game together here in recent years, it has been the same case in his five events this year since he returned from knee surgery in February.
Woods won the Arnold Palmer Invitational in Florida thanks to a hot putter, but even there his long game was not particularly good.
Clearly not satisfied, he experimented with a couple of different shafts in his driver in Charlotte last week, and tried a couple more on the range here Tuesday, obviously still not happy.
"I think I?ve done all right, all things considered," he said when asked to assess his overall form this year.
"It?s going to take a little time before my body gets back to where I can hit the ball the same distances (as before the surgery). But it?s coming.
"I have a whole new leg and each and every week I?m getting a little better and the body is starting to get a little more comfortable with everything."
While Woods comes into the tournament with at least some half decent form, the same can?t be said for defending champion Sergio Garcia, who missed the cut in Charlotte last week.
"I?m not feeling 100 percent with my game at the moment, and it shows," the Spaniard admitted.
"We all go through these things. It?s just a matter of keep going at it and waiting for things to change, just holding onto something good that will help you get through it.
"That?s what I?m searching for and I?m sure I?ll find it."
Irishman Padraig Harrington is also not quite firing on all cylinders.
"I?m working on my swing, getting very bogged down in the technique and being concerned about that and trying to work through these things," said Harrington, looking more long-term, even at the expense of immediate success.
"I?ve done this many times throughout my career. When you?re working on your weaknesses, sometimes your strengths get a little weak, and that?s what is happening to me at the moment.
"I?m not trying to play as well as I played last year to win my two majors. I?m trying to play better than that."
Copyright 2009  AFP Global Edition
