Even as a part-timer closing in on 50 and playing virtually on one leg, Tiger Woods believes he can win the Masters again.

Despite playing only three events since making last year's cut, barely 14 months after almost losing his right foot in a life-threatening car accident, Woods has returned to Augusta National backing his competitive instincts and supreme course knowledge to fuel another emotion-charged run to a record-equalling sixth green jacket.

"My game is better than it was last year at this particular time. I think my endurance is better," Woods said before offering a word of warning to his younger rivals and the doubters on Tuesday.

"Whether I'm a threat to them or not, who knows? People probably didn't think I was a threat in 2019 either, but it kind of turned out okay."

Woods was 43 when he completed the comeback of all comebacks in 2019, winning the Masters for a fifth time after back fusion surgery.

Now he is a year older than Jack Nicklaus was when the Golden Bear became, at 46, the oldest man to reign at Augusta National.

He knows the odds are stacked against him but the 15-times major champion says he wouldn't be teeing up if he didn't believe winning was possible.

"I just have to be cognizant of how much I can push," he said.

"I don't have the physical tournaments under my belt. I haven't played that much, no. But if there's any one golf course that I can come back, like I did last year, it's here, just because I know the golf course.

"You look at (how) Bernhard (Langer) is still able to compete here. Fred (Couples) is still able to compete here. They're older guys who understand how to play this particular golf course. It helps. And hopefully it will help me this week."

Despite only playing one PGA Tour event this year, Woods has been preparing for the Masters for months.

"A lot of it has been understanding the golf course, and I know the golf course," he said.

"So I've been able to recreate a lot of the chip shots at home in my backyard.

"Or I'm at Medalist (Golf Club in Florida) hitting balls off the side of lies, trying to simulate shots and rehearsing again and again each and every flag location, each and every shot I would possibly hit.

"I've gone through so many different scenarios in my head. You know I don't sleep very well, so going through it and rummaging through the data bank and how to hit shots from each and every place and rehearsing it; that's the only way that I can compete here."

And, as he puts it, by drawing on his renowned "stubbornness".

"I believe in hard work, and I believe in getting out there and getting out of it what you put into it," Woods said.

"I've worked very hard throughout my career and in my craft; I've always loved it.

"I've certainly had my share of adversity, physically, and had multiple surgeries and I've had to come back and work through that. Those were tough. They were never easy.

"But it's just the overall desire to win has always been there, and I've always worked at it and believed in what I could do.

"I've been stubborn and driven to come back and play at a high level. That has shown throughout my career and one of the reasons why I've been able to win over the course of my career, and that's just hanging in there and fighting on each and every shot.

"It means something. Each and every shot means something."