World No 1 Tiger Woods finished inside the top-10 at the WGC-CA Championship on Sunday, his first strokeplay event since his knee operation and said he was was progressing quicker than he expected.

An eight-month absence left Woods, who had only played in a match-play event before Doral, a little rusty and at times it showed.

Even so, he maintained his record of never finishing outside of the top-10 in 28 World Golf Championship events.

After four-under scores of 68 on both Saturday and Sunday, Woods finished tied for ninth on 11 under-par and said his performance was better than he expected.

"I would have to say that I'm surprised that I got the feel for hitting shots so quickly," he said.

"I've been away from the game for eight months (and) to come here and progress every day and get my feel of my short game, seeing shots, hitting shots; my distance control got better each and every day."

Woods, whose last strokeplay match was his US Open triumph last June, was followed by a large gallery scrutinizing his every move throughout the week.

"It doesn't weigh on me. I'm happy with the way I progressed but not necessarily happy with where I finished obviously," Woods said of the public's expectations.

"I didn't win the golf tournament and wasn't in a position to win the golf tournament but hitting the golf ball this week I got better each and every day and my feel around the greens got better and just handling the environment out there got better."

(Reuters via China Daily March 17, 2009)