sport news One year on from his return, and this year Tiger’s season is all about winning

This time last year, Tiger Woods returned to PGA Tour action with everyone terrified that his back would go again. 

Now, on the eve of his first start of the new season, the picture has improved so dramatically that his presence brings a sense of eager anticipation rather than anxiety.

Indeed, much of the build-up at Torrey Pines in California will be taken up discussing the twin peaks that provided the template for his starry career until the moment his back kept giving out every five minutes.

Can he secure the three PGA Tour wins he needs to surpass Sam Snead's all-time record total of 82? Will he start winning majors again and breathe new life into his pursuit of Jack Nicklaus's total of 18?

When a golfer gets to the age of 43, it is not often you talk about time being on their side, but that is the case for Woods with regard to overhauling Snead. 

The latter was nearly 53 when he won his last title, and Woods has the scent of victory once more, after ending last season with that memorable success at the Tour Championship in Atlanta for his first triumph in five years.

Not so with majors, of course. Here, he is fast running out of time. It is six years since any golfer won a major in his forties, and that was 43-year-old Phil Mickelson at the 2013 Open. 

Ray Floyd, Lee Trevino and Nicklaus himself all won majors at an age older than Woods but not more than one. No golfer has come close to winning four after the age of 43, which is what Woods needs to do to catch the Golden Bear.

One thing on his side is that he could not have hand-picked better venues than this year's crop. He has won at three of the four, and the odd one out - Royal Portrush, staging the Open for the first time since 1951 - will be right up his alley.

Another positive is that he now knows what he can and cannot do with his fused back. Before fatigue derailed him at the Ryder Cup, Woods was swinging the

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