Tiger Woods described his second round at the Farmers Insurance Open as "a grind" as he closed in on playing the weekend at Torrey Pines.

The 14-time major champion was two over for the tournament after nine holes on Friday, but some excellent short play on his back nine - having started at the 10th – saw him recover to one under par.

At the time Woods completed his round, which finished with a birdie at his last hole, the cut line was at one under and the American was content with the spirit he showed having struggled in the early stages.

"It was a grind, I fought hard, it was typical me going out there fighting for whatever I get, it felt good," Woods, an eight-time winner at the course, told NBC.

"My short game has been good all week, solid. I'm trying to get used to the firmness of the greens, you can hear the ball land from the fairway - that's not usually the case."

Woods' last competitive outing came at the Dubai Desert Classic on the European Tour in February 2017, when he was forced to withdraw before the second round.

Since then, Woods has undergone a fourth major surgery and he admits he needs time to fine-tune his game.

"I can't tell you it's [his back] the same feel I had then, it's fused, it's a different body," he added,

"I'm excited to play the weekend and get the feels, I hit the ball a bit further, but how much further, what are my new feels?

"These are things I need to learn, hopefully I can play the weekend."