Arnold Palmer claims Woods needs to regain confidence of old for climbing back to top

American golf legend Arnold Palmer has claimed that former world number one Tiger Woods needs to regain the confidence he had in his early career days if he wants to find his way back to the top of sport.

Woods is hoping to stage his return to golf at the Masters, and speaking at the eve of the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill, Palmer said that the 14-time major winner needs to practice to rebuild his early confidence.

Palmer said that he supported Woods' decision to take a break from competition, even though that means the former world number one won't be teeing it up this week at Bay Hill, where he has won eight times, Sport24 reported.

Woods took himself out of competition last month to improve his game, and time is running out for a return to form before the Masters next month.

Palmer said that he appreciated the fact that Woods called him to explain why he wouldn't be there.

Following his brief talks with Woods, Palmer said that firstly, the American told him that he cannot think of anything that he would rather do than be there to play and then he explained that he didn't feel like his game was ready.

Palmer claimed that Woods really wanted to work on it and get it ready to play and he doesn't blame the golfer, saying that he believes that if he were in Woods' position he would probably have said somewhat similar things.

Palmer said that he could give only one advice to Woods and that would to practice and gain on his confidence. He claimed that Woods has to regain the confidence he had when he was starting out and that was what made him what he is, adding that that's the way he would get it back.

Palmer believes that Woods should find a coach that he has confidence in and go work on his game.

Woods hasn't played since back stiffness prompted him to withdraw mid-round from the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines in early February, the report added.