Tiger Woods is planning to carry on playing golf as long as he believes he is the best player in the world.

The runaway world number one has won eight of his last ten tournaments and he could soon break Jack Nicklaus's record of 18 major titles.

Woods has already won 13 majors and no player has yet managed to beat him consistently.

He said: "I could not live with myself going out there and practising as hard as I do now and knowing that if I go out there and play my best someone is going to beat me but that happens. Your skills diminish, guys get better and more athletic. There's nothing wrong with walking away.

"Every athlete knows when that time comes. Some try and prolong that early exit. You can play as long as you want but do you want to play in mediocrity? That's the thing I would have a hard time with.

"I can't go out there knowing that if I play my best I'm not going to win."

Woods is 32 now, but there is no sign of his skills diminishing.

He added: "Peter Sampras won his last US Open at I think 31 and at the time people were saying 'He's way over the hill'.

"I'm 32 and I feel like I'm just entering my prime. Every sport is slightly different. Michael Jordan said his best years were his early 30s. Whereas most running backs will say its probably in their mid to late 20s.

"Every sport is different but generally in our sport its your early 30s. Some guys are able to sustain that into your early 40s."

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