Northern Irish's Rory McIlroy says he has his "head right" as he seeks a successful return to the Honda Classic.
McIlroy won the PGA Tour event in 2012, but saw his title defense end in controversy 12 months ago as he walked off the Palm Beach Gardens course after eight holes of his second round.
TRACK RORY: Honda Classic leaderboard via Golf.com
McIlroy cited severe toothache as the reason for his withdrawal, which came during a spell of poor form following his high-profile switch to Nike, but subsequently apologized.
Ahead of this year's Honda Classic, McIlroy insists his game is in much better shape.
"I needed to change a couple of things in my game but there was a lot of things I needed to change off the course. So that was one big thing to get my head right to go on the course and just think about golf," he said.
"That's been the biggest change; that's been the biggest improvement from this time last year.
"I've just kept working away on my game and I've found a great ball and a great driver combination and that's given me great confidence to really hit better drives and from there it makes the game so much easier.
"I'm swinging the club much better than I have done, as good as I probably ever have done and I'm very comfortable with it.
"It's been a lot of hard work and a bit of a grind but I'm definitely back to a place now where I feel comfortable off the tee."
Reflecting on his previous appearance at this week's event, McIlroy added: "Coming in here last year I was coming off the back of a couple of bad results and I was still getting used to new equipment and high expectations and I guess not really being in control of my game.
"There were a couple of things happening off the course as well and it wasn't a great time but obviously it's so much different this year.
"I'm much more comfortable and in a better place and I feel like when my game's in a good place everything else can fall in line with that and it makes me feel more comfortable with everything."