PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- Tiger Woods said he had not yet fully regained his renowned length off the tee or with his irons, after being sidelined for eight months following reconstructive knee surgery.
"The first tournament back, I just didn't have the pop in my body, nor should I," the American world No. 1 said Tuesday in the build-up to this week's Players Championship.
"After going what I went through and coming back, it takes time ... to get the speed back and the agility and all those different things.
"Most athletes take over a year to get back. I've been able to get back sooner than that, just because of the nature of my sport.
"I don't hit the ball the same distance with my irons or my driver, but it's coming," added Woods, who stands 29th in the 2009 PGA Tour's driving distance charts with an average of 293.5 yards.
"Each and every week I'm getting a little better."
Woods shut down his campaign after winning his 14th major at the U.S. Open in June and did not return to the PGA Tour until the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship in February.
After being eliminated in the second round of his comeback event, he has since won a title and recorded three other top-10s in just four stroke-play appearances.
"I've done all right, all things considered," said the 33-year-old, who clinched his 66th PGA Tour title at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March at Bay Hill.
Now that Tiger Woods has returned to the PGA Tour, get the latest news and analysis on the 14-time major winner's comeback. Tiger Tracker
"My best ball-striking week so far has been Doral," he added, referring to his tie for ninth place at the WGC-CA Championship in March. "I hit it great the entire week there. I didn't putt [well], but I hit it well.
"And I didn't hit it very good at Bay Hill but I putted well. It's just one of those things where I haven't put all the pieces together yet."
Although Woods won the Players Championship for the only time in 2001 a year after finishing a stroke behind Hal Sutton, he described his performances overall at the TPC Sawgrass as patchy.
"For some reason, I haven't hit the ball well here," he said of the PGA Tour event, widely regarded as the unofficial fifth major. "The last year I played it [in 2007], I did [hit it well] but I couldn't make a putt.
"It's very similar to a major championship," added Woods, a winner of 14 major titles. "You have to have everything going together at the same time."
The Players Championship starts on Thursday when Woods will tee off in the company of fellow American Justin Leonard and South African Ernie Els.
