Tiger Woods at 2015 US Open: Takeaways from Pre-Tournament Press Conference

It has been seven years since Tiger Woods last won a major title at the 2008 U.S. Open, but the 39-year-old golfing legend discussed his hopes of ending that drought Tuesday as he prepares for the 2015 U.S. Open at Chambers Bay in University Place, Washington.  

The 2015 season has been an extremely difficult one for Woods thus far as he has battled injuries and poor play. He took some time off in order to correct his issues prior to the Memorial, but it didn't seem to help as he shot a third-round 85, which was the worst score of his professional career.

Even though Woods enters the U.S. Open as the 195th-ranked golfer in the world, he maintains that there is still a great deal of burden on him to perform, according to the U.S. Open's official Twitter account:

The 14-time major champion dominated the sport for many years, but the past several have been a struggle for the most part. In order to compensate, he has overhauled his swing, which will be on full display this week.

Per Golf Central, Woods' decision to make sweeping changes reflects his burning desire to be successful on the course:

He also feels as though he has made the necessary alterations to his swing, but the true test is to implement them into competitive rounds of golf, according to Curtis Crabtree of the Associated Press:

It is very difficult to predict how Woods will fare until the U.S. Open starts since he has had such an up-and-down game in recent years, but he is encouraged.

Per Stephanie Wei of Fox Sports Asia, Woods is comfortable with the progress he has made during the build toward the U.S. Open:

Tournament contender Jason Day, who played nine holes with Woods and Dustin Johnson Monday, doesn't believe Woods is far off from contention either, according to Mark Cannizzaro of the New York Post:

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If he could get on the fairway, he'd probably be back to where he was (when he was dominating). His iron play is just ridiculous how good it is right now. It's really special. The driver and the 3-wood ... the 3-wood is OK, the driver is a little ... gets a little wide sometimes. But I think that's the biggest thing for him right now is to really kind of get on the fairway. His short game looks pretty good.

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Even with Woods' fellow golfers complimenting him, there seemingly isn't much belief among the general public that he can pull off a victory this weekend.

Don't count Woods among them, though, as he believes his track record of success at the U.S. Open gives him a legitimate chance to contend, per Gregg Bell of the Associated Press:

If he is going to win against all odds, he will have to figure out how to conquer what is a fairly new and unique golf course in Chambers Bay.

He acknowledged that the venue, which opened in 2007, doesn't have the type of layout of a traditional U.S. Open course, according to Tim Booth of the Associated Press:

Woods also believes that the links-style course has a very different feel as the day goes along, per Crabtree:

This year has largely been about making adjustments, so perhaps playing at a course that will force others to make changes will benefit him.

It is fair to say that 2015 has been Woods' worst year as a professional, but he still manages to get up for major tournaments. He put in a very strong showing through three rounds at the Masters despite seemingly being in poor form, and he will look to do something similar at the U.S. Open.

The level of belief in Woods entering the 2015 U.S. Open is at an all-time low, but every indication is that the man himself truly thinks that he can compete with the world's top players at Chambers Bay.

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