Tiger Woods believes his game is improving as he looks to secure an eighth title at the Firestone Country Club this week. (Woods 4/1 to win WGC Bridgestone Invitational – In-Play)

The world number one has not won a tournament since the BMW Championship in September 2009 and spent five months out of the game to deal with his highly-publicised personal problems.

He has shown glimpses of his best form since returning to the sport at the Masters and finished fourth at Augusta and at the US Open at Pebble Beach.

The 34-year-old is now returning to a course on which he has already won seven titles – four when the event was sponsored by NEC and three since Bridgestone took over as the sponsors – and he feels there are signs that his game is coming together with the US PGA Championship and the Ryder Cup both on the horizon.

“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.”

Woods needs a couple of good finishes in the next two tournaments to secure his automatic place in the US Ryder Cup team, after slipping to ninth in the standings, and it may be that Firestone is the perfect venue for Woods to kick-start his season after the turmoil he suffered at the beginning of the year. (USA 15/8 to win Ryder Cup)