Woods considered retirement

On the eve of his long-awaited return, Tiger Woods admits he doubted whether he would ever be able to play competitive golf again.

It is 15 months since Woods finished tied for tenth at the Wyndham Championship in August 2015 before undergoing two operations to treat a long-standing back problem.

The former world number one has endured a difficult road back to fitness and speaking ahead of this week's Hero World Challenge he revealed that retirement had crossed his mind during his long lay-off.

"There was a lot of trepidation and times where I thought - I did think of that (retirement) because it was realistic," Woods told reporters ahead of the event.

"Not being able to get out of bed, not being able to move, how can I expect to come out here and swing a golf club at 120 miles an hour and be ballistic when I can't even get out of bed?"

The 40-year-old, who missed all four majors in a calendar year for the first time in his career, will join the likes of defending champion Bubba Watson, Jordan Spieth, Henrik Stenson and Dustin Johnson take his place in an 18-man field in Barbados and he is determined to give a good account of himself.

"I'm going to try to do the same thing I always do. I'm entered in an event, I'm going to try to win this thing," he said.

"I know Bubba went low, shot 25 under (last year). That's going to be a tall order. I haven't played in a while. But, hey, I'm going to give it my best."

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