Sports

Despite injuries, lack of major, Woods thinks he’s had ‘a great year’

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The excuse is already there, waiting, as are the jokes.

So let it be clear it was Tiger Woods himself who explained how he slept Tuesday night on a “soft” hotel bed, and when he woke up early yesterday to play in the Pro-Am for The Barclays at Liberty National Golf Course in Jersey City, he felt stiffness in his neck and back. That stiffness kept him from hitting any full shots on the back nine, but was not expected to keep him from teeing off this morning when the four-tournament FedEx Cup playoffs begin.

“I didn’t want to push it, so I just chipped and putted,” Woods said. “It was fine at home, just hotel beds.”

Asked if he will do something about the hotel bed to have it changed, Woods grinned widely.

“What do you think?” he asked.

More importantly, Woods comes into this tournament having completed his fifth consecutive season without a major championship. Yes, his five wins on Tour this year have him atop the FedEx Cup standings, and they also have him as the frontrunner to win Player of the Year. But for him, it is just another nice season during which his ultimate goal of beating Jack Nicklaus’ record of 18 major stayed far off in the distance.

“It’s nice to win golf tournaments,” said Woods, who has been stuck on 14 career majors since the 2008 U.S. Open. “You’re looking over a course of a career, and you’re going to have years where you don’t win major championships and years that you do. There are years where I’ve won one tournament and years where I’ve won nine. So as long as I keep winning in all those years, it’s not too bad.”

That sentiment — “not too bad” — is probably closer to Woods’ true feeling about the year then the other way he has often described it.

“I think the overall package is how I look at it,” Woods said. “This year has been a great year.”

It could be made better by winning his third career FedEx Cup title, having last won the aggregate event in 2009 — before the scandal of all his extramarital affairs tore his personal life to pieces. Directly behind him in the standings this year are his playing partners for the opening two rounds, Matt Kuchar and Brandt Snedeker, ranked Nos. 2 and 3, respectively.

Each has won twice on tour this year, yet Woods made a backhanded suggestion as to how they could get into the conversation for Player of the Year.

“Any of those guys wins, hypothetically, wins all four [playoff events],” Woods said, “you’re looking at a four-, five-, six-win season, and that’s a pretty good season.”

Woods comes into this week with 79 career PGA Tour wins, three behind the all-time lead of Sam Snead. That is a record even Woods himself didn’t think he would be broaching at this point in his career, being 37 years old and having battled through a series of debilitating injuries.

“It’s been an amazing, amazing run to get here,” he said. “The consistency is one of the things I’m most proud of, winning five or more tournaments 10 [different] years. That’s one of the stats that I look at as one of the ones I’m really proud of. This is one of those years.”

Yet it’s also a year when Adam Scott, Justin Rose and Jason Dufner each won his first major, and Phil Mickelson won his fifth. So although Woods said that by his standards, “it’s a great year,” he can’t completely bury the disappointment.

“Is the season better with [five] titles, or none of those and one major?” he was asked.

“The major,” he said.

bcyrgalis@nypost.com

MARK CANNIZZARO’S PICKS

Tiger Woods: Never mind the stiff neck and back. Woods nearly won this event four years ago when he didn’t like the golf course. Now he likes it better and could win his sixth title of the year.

Jason Dufner: The PGA Championship winner two weeks ago has had a week to rest and is so unaffected by everything, he might just win this week.

Patrick Reed:Don’t sleep on last week’s Wyndham winner. He plays on momentum well and is flying high right now with wife, Justine, on the bag.

BRETT CYRGALIS’ PICKS

Jason Day: The 26-year-old Aussie has a tendency to be near the top of the leaderboard in big-time tournaments, finishing tied for eighth at the PGA.

Brandt Snedeker: The defending FedEx Cup champion can rely on his superlative putting to navigate the tricky greens at Liberty National.

Keegan Bradley: The long-hitting St. John’s alumnus will have some hometown fans behind him and can overpower the par-5s.