Tiger Woods has given an update on his fitness with less than seven weeks left until the 2021 Masters begins.

The 15-time Major winner is in a race against time to be ready for Augusta after announcing in January that he had recently undergone a fifth back surgery that had put his 2021 PGA Tour plans on hold.

Woods missed the recent Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines and the subsequent Genesis Invitational; though as tournament host he was still present at Riviera Country Club on Sunday to hand the trophy over to the victorious Max Homa.

The 45-year-old also gave an interview in California where he was asked if he was going to be at the latest Masters, which follows on just five months after the coronavirus-delayed 2020 edition won by Dustin Johnson.

“God I hope so,” said Woods, who finished in a tie for 38th place at Augusta in November.

“I’ve got to get there first. A lot of it’s based on my surgeons and my doctors and my therapists, making sure that I do it correctly. This is the only back I’ve got, so I don’t have much more wiggle room left there.

“I don’t know what the plan is [about playing any warm-up tournaments].”

He added: “I’m feeling fine. I’m a little bit stiff. I have one more MRI scheduled so we’ll see if the annulus is scarred over finally and then I can start doing more activities.

“But I’m still in the gym; I’m still doing the mundane stuff that you have to do for rehab, the little things before I can start gravitating to something a little more.”

Asked what he had been able to do golf-wise since his latest surgery, Woods laughed: “I have lengthened my putter. It starts with that, I don’t have to bend over as far. I’ve gone to the same length as my sand wedge.

“I do a lot of putting drills, blading, hitting the equator with my sand wedge and I figure well, if I do a lot with that why don’t I lengthen my putter to the same le