By Richard Animam
Tiger Woods believes patience is the key to a turnaround in his fortunes as he looks to defend his title at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational.

The world number one has not been victorious since the BMW Championship in September 2009, two months before his life was transformed following revelations about his personal life.

However the 34-year-old can see some positive signs in his game and insists that it is now just a matter of “putting the pieces together”.

A return to Firestone will certainly give Woods plenty of confidence – he has managed seven wins in 10 starts there since the event became a World Golf Championships tournament.
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“I’ve been through stretches when I haven’t won and it’s a matter of putting the pieces together and being patient, it’s not something that happens overnight,” he said.

“I’m not one of those players who plays really badly and then really well.
“You start seeing trends and I’ve started to put things together and I am very excited.”

The 14-time major winner readily admits he is struggling with his putting, something he attributes to speed.
He explained: “It has been off all year. I’ve three putted quite a few times which I don’t do normally so I’ve had to go back to basics and practise a bit more.
“I haven’t worked on it as much as I should have the last couple of years so I’ve had to go back to that.”
There is more than just a trophy up for grabs in Akron with Woods facing a battle to retain his place at the top of the world rankings.
Phil Mickelson could reach the summit for the first time with a top-four finish providing Woods is well down the field, but if the leftie wins there is nothing his rival can do to prevent him taking over as number one.

Lee Westwood is also in the running, though the Brit has to finish first or second just to have a chance of overtaking the two Americans.

Woods, though, is remaining calm under pressure: “Am I conscious of the pack closing in? Yes, because every tournament you guys remind me. “You play – how I got here was playing golf tournaments and winning golf tournaments.”

Woods will get the chance to keep a close eye on one of his rivals after being paired with Westwood – who was a runner-up at both the Masters and Open this season -for the opening two rounds.

“I’ve always enjoyed playing with Westy, he’s a great guy. We’ve been going at it for a long time,” he added.
“What he’s done over the last couple of years – I always knew he had that talent and level of play, now he is showing it.