"I don't know what that reaction is going to be," said Woods, who will this week play the PGA Tour's Genesis Invitational, which he hosts annually through his charity foundation.

"I know that some of our friendships have certainly taken a different path, but we'll see when all that transpires. It's still a couple of months away."

Players from the warring circuits will break bread at the Masters traditional pre-tournament Champions' dinner, and Woods said the focus should be on reigning champion Scottie Scheffler despite the obvious tensions.

"We need to make sure Scottie is honoured correctly while also realising the nature of what has transpired," he said.

"The people who have left, where our situations are legally, emotionally – there's a lot there."

Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka are among the big names who have left the PGA Tour for the lucrative, Saudi-backed LIV Golf. While banned from PGA Tour events, LIV players have been invited to compete at the Masters.

LIV Golf's inaugural season last year and the subsequent controversies and lawsuits had been "very turbulent" for the sport, Woods told reporters at the Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades.

"We never would have expected the game of golf to be in this situation but it is. That's the reality," he said.

"They're a competitive organisation trying to create the best product they possibly can and we're also trying to create the best product, which we think is the future of golf and how it should be played."

Woods called World No.1 Rory McIlroy the PGA Tour's "ambassador" and said he had been extraordinary at navigating the new, and at times hostile, terrain.

McIlroy beat LIV Golf's Patrick Reed by one stroke at last month's Hero Dubai Desert Classic after the American, who is taking legal action on different fronts, threw a tee in the direction of the Northern Irishman, whom his lawyer had subpoenaed over Christmas.

"It's been tough on him and he's been exceptional," Woods said.

Woods, 47, is returning to competitive golf for the first time since failing to make the cut at The Open Championship in July.

He played in just three tournaments last season as he continued his recovery from a serious leg injury sustained in a single-car accident the day after the 2021 Genesis Invitational was completed.

"If I'm playing, I'm playing to win," Woods said.

"I know some players have played as ambassadors to the game and trying to grow the game. I can't wrap my mind around that. I'm playing to beat the other players and get a 'W'.