Tiger Woods is pleased with the progress he has made over the past couple of months as he continues his quest for a 15th major (Woods 11/8 To Win A Major in 2012).

The 36-year-old had gone two years without winning a tournament until he secured victory in the Chevron World Challenge late last year and he almost followed that up with another success on his season debut in Abu Dhabi.

The former world number one was in pole position to take the HSBC Abu Dhabi Championship before going off the boil on the back nine on Sunday to open the door for England’s Robert Rock to claim the title.

There were sections of the media who doubted whether Woods would ever return to the winner’s enclosure following his injury problems and well-documented personal tribulations.

But, after making progress in Australia, it appears that the Florida resident is on the way back as he drove the ball with precision and hit a high percentage of greens in regulation until faltering on Sunday afternoon.

Despite failing to nail down another win, Woods remains happy with the way that his game is coming together as he looks to put the last couple of years behind him and rise back to the top of the rankings (Woods 7/2 PGA Tour Money List Winner 2012).

“I’m pleased at the progress,” he said. “Basically, since playing in Australia my strokeplay events have been pretty good. I just need to keep building, keep getting more consistent.”

Woods has been struggling with his swing for some time but looked to be back in the groove in the UAE and he admits that the ball was flying off his irons last week.

“I hit the ball beautifully all week which I’m very pleased about but I was just a touch off on Sunday,” he added. “I was hitting the ball a little bit further than I thought I would.”