The 41-year-old is currently ranked 666 in the world after years as the sport’s number one ranked player.

Woods said he was drawing a lot from Federer’s 18th grand slam triumph, his first since claiming Wimbledon in 2012.

"What Rog has done is he's been dominant for so long," Woods said as he continues his comeback from 16 months off at this week's Dubai Desert Classic.

"To compete against (Novak Djokovic), to compete against Rafa, and now Andy (Murray) is playing well. He's had a litany of guys who have won slams. And no one wins slams at his age.

"And for him to come back, after having to take that much time off, and for him to get the timing, that's the hardest part."

Woods has won 14 majors, the last coming at the 2008 US Open.

Woods has endured three back surgeries but is adamant he will be doing everything he can to return to his best.

"As you get older, you change your game and you do things slightly differently, and he did that," Woods said of Federer.

"Am I going to do that? Yeah, I'm not going to be hitting balls like some of these guys, 340, out there," Woods said.

"I watched Dustin (Johnson) carry a ball last week when it was cold, wet and damp and carried it 335. Jason (Day) and I just looked at each other going, 'We don't have that."'