London: If anything can re-ignite Tiger Woods's bid to break Jack Nicklaus's record of 18 major wins it is next week's trip to St Andrews for the 150th anniversary British Open.
The world number one has gone two years since landing his 14th major at the 2008 U.S. Open and his troubled times on and off the course this season suggest the 15th could be a struggle.
Woods, though, won the British Open at the famous Old Course in 2000 and 2005 and he is excited at the prospect of trying to become the first player to win three Claret Jugs at the home of golf.
"What can I say, I love St Andrews," said the 34-year-old American who also lifted the coveted trophy at Hoylake in 2006.
Woods will be hoping to make it third time lucky in the majors this season after going close at the U.S. Masters and the U.S. Open.
Golf's new bad boy after admitting a string of extra-marital affairs, he ended a self-imposed exile from the sport when he returned for the Masters at Augusta in April.
Woods gave a sterling performance in his first tournament for five months and finished tied fourth behind a player considered to be one of the good guys as Phil Mickelson claimed his fourth major.
"I wanted to win (but) as the week wore on I kept hitting the ball worse," said the 14-times major champion. "I didn't hit the ball good enough and I made too many mistakes around the greens."
Woods cast a forlorn figure at the end of April when he missed the cut for only the sixth time as a professional, at the Quail Hollow Championship in North Carolina.
His display prompted questions about whether distractions in his private life were taking their toll.
"Does it test you? Yes, of course it does," he said. "Is that any excuse? No, because I'm out there and I have the same opportunity as everybody else to shoot a good number and I didn't do that."
Woods then withdrew from the Players Championship in Florida with a neck injury but he again showed how he can raise his game for a major, finishing tied fourth at the U.S. Open in June.
"I feel like I can play now. I've got a feel for my game, the shape of my shots, what I'm working on," he said at the end of his challenge at Pebble Beach in California.
"I feel like I put some pieces together. It's a long process but I've put some of it together and I hit some shots I haven't hit for a long time."
Armed with the knowledge his major championship 'A' game could be coming together, Woods will make a timely return to St Andrews.
"This is the home of golf and to win the Open championship here is as good as it gets," he said after winning on the Scottish links in 2005.
The Open, the oldest of the four majors, starts on Thursday.
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