The fightback starts at 9am Pacific coast time tomorrow, when Tiger Woods steps on to the tee at Torrey Pines's North course for his first tournament of 2011 and first chance of the new year to silence the obituarists who have signalled the end of his glory years.
"That's fine. I have heard it before," the new world No3 said. "I have gone through stretches where I haven't won. All I can do is keep working and stick to the game plan. My record speaks to that."
It does, but Woods's record, glorious as it was, was compiled in different circumstances and in different times. He has been through stretches where he has not won, mostly notably in 1998 and in 2004, when he was changing his swing, but he has never gone an entire season without troubling the trophy engravers, as happened last year.
Nor has he been confronted by a competitive landscape as challenging as the one that confronts him now, with England's Lee Westwood now firmly ensconced in the world No1 spot and Germany's Martin Kaymer, winner of the Abu Dhabi Championship last weekend, now ranked second. Neither of the two Europeans is in San Diego this week, which is probably just as well for Woods, who is still in the midst of overhauling his swing under the guidance of his latest coach, Sean Foley. Still, he has a formidable record at Torrey Pines – he has won seven times there as a professional, including the 2008 US Open – and there were signs of a revival in his game at the tail end of last year, most notably in his second-place finish to Graeme McDowell at the Chevron World Challenge.
Woods lost a four-shot lead to the Irishman on the final day of the Chevron although, typically, he preferred to focus on the positive aspect of the loss, citing his approach shot to the 18th hole on Sunday as the highlight of his year.
"Even though I obviously lost the four-shot lead, but as far as my golf swing goes, that one shot was it. I needed to hit that fade. I needed to hit the eight iron flush. I needed to get it there. I needed to hit it through the wind. And I did all those things and hit it to two and a half feet. Those are fun moments."
Woods has spent the off-season working with Foley, and seeking "balance" in his life away from the course. "I think in order to play this game at a high level, it helps to have a clear mind. It helps having your life in balance. Certainly my life is much more balanced than it was in the past. That is exciting for me. I think it's exciting for my kids, and we're really looking forward to it."
Woods will spend the first two days at San Diego in the company of Rocco Mediate, with whom he contested the famous play-off at the 2008 US Open. He won that day. But anything less than another victory on Sunday and obituarists may get to work again.