However, Woods ran away with the Tour Championship in Atlanta yesterday and his eight-stroke victory brought him his 61st PGA Tour title, a $1.2m (€860,000) winner’s cheque and a $10m (€7.2m) for claiming the inaugural FedEx Cup Play-off series.

After a mediocre performance at the Open at Carnoustie in July, Woods has triumphed in four of his past five starts, by a cumulative 20-stroke margin, and finished equal second in the one event that he did not win during this period.

And he was under no illusions as to how he got to that point.

“I think my driving has gotten better. I feel I’m able to work the ball better both ways than early in the year,” said Woods, who is 45 under par over the past fortnight, shooting 22-under to win the BMW Championship at Cog Hill last week, before finishing 23-under at the Tour Championship.

However, the 31-year-old believes he has probably not reached his prime.

“I don’t know when it’s going to be,” he said. “Do you want me to tell you it’s January 5th of such-and-such a year? The whole idea is to keep improving. When all is said and done, you can rack the cue and go home and retire, say these were my peak years.

“But when you’re at it, you’re always trying to get to the next level.”

Woods was not seriously challenged during the final round at East Lake and his 23-under 257 total was the lowest of his career by two strokes.

He was asked whether he was a better player now than in 1999 and 2000. He won 17 times on tour in those two years, while he has won 15 times in the past two years.

“I think I have a better understanding by far of how to play the game than I did back then, and certainly have a lot more shots to get me around the course that I did then,” he said.

“That’s just seven-to-nine years of more experience, understanding all the mistakes I’ve made and how to improve. My course management skills have certainly improved over the years.”