The former World No.3 believes the 46-year-old Woods can win another major – if he can just get to the final nine holes.

"You'd never run Tiger off," Harrington said, drawing from the two hours he watched Woods play in a 10-hole made-for-TV exhibition last weekend.

"But I actually think he might be ... in a better place than I had thought."

Never mind that the 15-time major champion turns 47 at the end of the month, or that Woods has had as many – if not more – surgeries than he has won majors.

Plantar fasciitis in his right foot kept Woods from playing the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas two weeks ago, and he would not be playing with his 13-year-old son, Charlie, in the PNC Championship this weekend if not for carts being allowed.

"There's two things that make a golfer – how talented they are and how resilient they are," Harrington said on Thursday after storms washed out the PNC Championship pro-am.

"I actually think he might be ... in a better place than I had thought." - Padraig Harrington.

"Usually you get very talented, not very resilient; or you get very resilient and not very talented. Tiger, through his whole career, has both of those.

"So I would never doubt."

His views were contrary to former World No.2 Colin Montgomerie, who said earlier this week he does not think Woods can win again.

"He's great," Montgomerie said on the Bunkered podcast. "But Tiger doesn't have to now just get back to the standard he was performing at then. He has to improve it.

"The standard is improving all the time, and there's not one or two guys that can beat him now. There's 22 guys that can beat him.

"So, it's Tiger trying to get not back to where he was but to get to a standard he's never been at before and I don't think that's possible."

Woods has played all of 172 holes this year in tournaments – 162 while walking. He tied for 48th in the Masters, withdrew after the third round of the PGA Championship on a cold day at Southern Hills and missed the cut at St Andrews in The Open.

Harrington and Woods first squared off in the third round of the US Open at Bethpage Black in 2002 – Woods won his second straight major – and they have remained friends since, with the US golfer having great respect for the Irishman's work ethic.

Harrington used to say his goal was to see where he stood through 63 holes, and then show what he has on the final nine. He won three majors in 2007 and 2008.

What inspired him from watching 10 holes in the match last week was the speed Woods showed in his swing, which he thought was enough power to keep up with today's generation and to at least get him to the back nine.

"The little bit of extra speed will help him because in the first 63 holes ... you know, who would want to be coming down the stretch against Tiger?" Harrington said.

It only takes 27 holes to get to the last nine at the PNC Championship, which Woods is playing for the third time. Woods and Charlie, now 13, finished one shot behind John Daly and his son a year ago.