Tiger Woods

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Woods recovering from illness

Tiger Woods is recovering from a cold as he prepares to face Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano at the Accenture World Match Play.

Woods faces the Spaniard on Wednesday in the first round of the 64-man knockout event.

“I was with the kids all week. Once they bring it home we all get it,” said Woods, who lost to Dane Thomas Bjorn in the first round a year ago.

His opponent, currently 20th in the world, was quoted yesterday as saying he thinks Woods is beatable, and when asked about that, Woods replied: “I feel exactly the same way as he does - I feel he’s beatable too!

“It used to motivate me quite a bit when I was younger, but as I’ve matured and gone beyond that it’s just an opinion.

“It’s their prerogative, what matters is how I go out and play and how I’m progressing in my game.

“At the end of the day when I’m retired, I think I will have mastered a pretty good record.”

On the match play format, he added: “It is a sprint. You have to get off to quick starts. Generally if you get down early, two or three down, you rarely come back.

“Any guy can win any match - we’ve seen that over the years. That’s what makes it so interesting for us as players and I’m sure for the fans as well.”