Woods: 'It's winning time!'

"It's winning time," says Tiger Woods as he prepares to compete at the Genesis Open at Riviera, California.

The 14-time major champion, who makes his second start of 2018 after a T23 at the Farmers Insurance Open, is brimming with confidence ahead of the event.

"Once I get into contention, I can handle myself," he said. "I just need to get back there."

The 42-year-old plays with Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas on Thursday and Friday.

"I think now they're starting to see me as a competitor because I'm starting to come back again," Woods said. "Yeah, we still give the needle and have a whole bunch of fun...I think at the Hero this year it changed quite a bit."

Woods is putting a new shaft into his TaylorMade M3 driver this week, opting for a stiffer product he used in 2015 and adding more loft to his club.

"We could all see how bad I was driving it, and I was able to clean that up a little bit," Woods said.