Tiger Woods says he is enjoying one of his best seasons given the context of his injury struggles.
The 14-time major winner has mounted a remarkable revival in recent months after undergoing numerous operations to fix a back problem.
However, after coming close to big victories at The Open and the US PGA Championship, Woods believes his re-emergence as a contender marks 2018 down as being among his greatest years.
"No doubt [this is one of the best]," said the 42-year-old ahead of the FedEx Cup Playoffs. "To have a winless year but actually to go through what I've gone through...
"I didn't know I was going to play last year. I didn't know if I was ever going to play again. I was hoping just to be able to play golf with my kids and with my buddies at home. I wasn't thinking about the Tour.
"Now I'm here contending major championships and have had a couple of chances to win major championships. This has been a blessing. It's been so special to have this opportunity again.
"I'm certainly not taking it for granted, that's for sure."
On the prospect of his career ending before back fusion surgery, Woods said: "I was resigned to it. I had lived in a pretty difficult situation for a while. I just wanted the pain to go away.
"It was painful sitting, laying, moving, anything - it was just constant pain down my leg and in my back. I just wanted that to go away.
"The fusion solved that. Anything beyond that was going to be a plus, considering where I was coming from. To get to where I'm at, I didn't think that was ever going to happen again."
And now Woods is chasing down his next Tour win, having waited five years since his last.
"I feel like my next wins are coming soon. How soon? I don't know," he said.
"I'm putting myself there in tournaments now. I've done it in two of the last three tournament I've played in and they were big events. I'm not that far away from getting it done."
