AUGUSTA — Ask Tiger Woods a simple question and you get a simple answer.

The five-time champion intends to play the Masters tournament this week, about 14 months after a car accident that nearly cost him his right leg. While it’s considered remarkable that Woods has recovered to the point that he can compete, the competitive Woods tends to look beyond just being able to play.

Woods was asked Tuesday whether he thinks he can win this Masters.

“I do,” he said succinctly.

And what gives him such confidence in what appears to be an uphill battle, considering he came to Augusta National over the past two weeks to see if a comeback was even possible?

“I can hit it just fine,” he said. “I don’t have any qualms about what I can do physically from a golf standpoint. It’s now walking is the hard part. This is normally not an easy walk to begin with. Now given the conditions that my leg is in, it gets even more difficult.