Tiger Woods can still talk the talk, and he clearly believes he can still walk the walk, too, as he targeted the all-time PGA Tour win record in this week’s Genesis Invitational at the Riviera Country Club.

But Woods (47) is also acutely aware of the challenge posed by LIV Golf, and he had special praise for Rory McIlroy’s “incredible” performance on and off the course in his role as the Tour’s unofficial ambassador in the sport’s ongoing civil war.

“It’s been an ebb and flow, it really has,” Woods said of the battle with the Saudi-backed league. “And it’s been difficult, there’s no lie. You’ve seen our ambassador, Rory, go through it. It’s been tough on him, but he’s been exceptional. To be able to go through all that, I’ve been with him on all those conference calls and side meetings, and for him to go out there and play and win, it’s been incredible.”

Like McIlroy, Woods was subpoenaed by Patrick Reed’s lawyer on Christmas Eve, and he admitted it may be impossible to ignore the elephant in the room when he gets to Augusta National and sees LIV players like Reed, Bubba Watson, Phil Mickelson, Charl Schwartzel and Dustin Johnson at the Champions Dinner. “The Champions Dinner is going to be obviously something that’s talked about. We, as a whole, need to honour Scottie; Scottie’s the winner, it’s his dinner. Making sure that Scottie gets honoured correctly but also realising the nature of what has transpired and the people that have left, just where our situations are either legally, emotionally, there’s a lot there.”

​Asked if it might be uncomfortable, he said: “I don’t know, I don’t know what that reaction’s going to be. I know that some of our friendships have certainly taken a different path, but we’ll see when all that transpires.”

Woods (47) has not played an official PGA Tour event since he missed the cut in The Open last July, but while he admitted he’s still struggling with his ankle after suffering devastating leg injuries in a car crash two years ago, he is telling himself he can break out of a tie with Sam Snead and win his 83rd PGA Tour title this week, just 49 days before the Masters.

“I’m excited to go out there and compete and play with these guys,” said Woods, who could jump from 1,294th in the world to just outside the top 50 with a win. “I would not have put myself out here if I didn’t think I could beat these guys, and win the event. That’s my mentality. If I wasn’t ready to win at this level – I know I am very rusty – but I’ve come off rusty situations before and done well, and I’ve had to utilise a lot of those tactics and practice and build up.”

He returns to action just days after LeBron James broke Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s 39-year-old NBA scoring record. When asked for an equivalent achievement in golf, he pointed to the record he shares with Snead.

“As far as the LeBron record (is concerned), what he accomplished is absolutely incredible – just the durability, the consistency, and the longevity,” said Woods, who revealed he still hoped to play the Majors “and maybe a couple more” events this year, depending on his fitness.

“As far as our equivalent to that, I don’t know. Maybe you look at maybe me and Sam at 82? It takes a career to get to those numbers. That’s how I think probably best how you look at it.”

However, he’s also aware that he hasn’t won since he matched Snead in 2019.

“I looked at the fact that I haven’t won in three years, so there you go,” he acknowledged with a grin.