Tiger Woods insists he is paying no attention to his lowly world ranking as he attempts to rediscover the form that earned him legendary status ahead of the US PGA Championship.

The former world number one is a shadow of his former self, with his dismal form having seen him plummet to 278th in the world ahead of the final major of the year in Wisconsin this week.

It is eight years since Woods won the last of his 14 majors and even the man himself was unable to talk up his chances of claiming a fifth US PGA Championship.

"I know I'm in the 200s somewhere [in the world rankings], but as far as paying attention to it, no," said Woods.

"I’m just trying to get better. I'm just trying to get up there where I can win tournaments, get my game organised so I can be consistent on a tournament basis where I'm going to give myself a chance to win each and every event I play in.

"That’s what I have done over most of my career, and I’d like to get to that point again where I could do that.

"If I play well, I play well and I’ll play in more events. If I don't, then I have more time to practice and get ready for the following events, for the next season and obviously some of the things I do on a global level.

"I'm just trying to get my game better for years to come. If you would have asked me right after I had my back surgery last year, what does your career look like, I didn't really have much of an answer.

"I was hoping to get back out here. But now I'm back out here at a level I can practice and play again. But also I have a totally different new swing. It was like the perfect storm of a surgery, rehabbing and then trying to learn a whole new pattern, it couldn't have been more complicated.

"But I'm here now in this position, and as far as my tournament future, if I play well, I play well and I'll play in more events."