Tiger Woods admits he has yet to come to terms with winning his fifth Masters title at Augusta National.

Tiger Woods marched from the Butler Cabin to the practice putting green at Augusta National Golf Club, a smile stretched across his face, engulfed in a lovefest of cheers from his adoring fans, who chanted “Ti-ger, Ti-ger,” and waited for defending champion to do the honors of awarding the winner’s green jacket.

The Masters is a tournament not a championship — a limited field event that’s there to be won by the man in form who displays the stomach for battle down the stretch.

Augusta can hardly be called a happy hunting ground for golfers from this island, given that no Irishman has ever pulled on the famous green jacket.

Every generation has a tiny coterie of sportsmen or women whose career is a persistent exercise in dominance.

The roars were unlike anything Brooks Koepka had ever heard, and he knew exactly what they meant.

Rory McIlroy is confident he has fixed the putting problems that sank his Irish Open hopes a fortnight ago as he launches his bid for a fifth major title of his career in Scotland this week.

What makes the Masters Green Jacket the most desirable piece of clothing in sport, wonders Kevin Markham. 

Sergio Garcia and wife Angela named their infant daughter Azalea, after the 13th hole at Augusta National, where he made a career-changing par en route to his dramatic Masters victory in a sudden-death playoff in 2017. Now, that same hole, one of golf’s greatest risk-reward decisions, is at the centre of golf’s referendum on the distance debate.

Defending champion Sergio Garcia got into some hot water giving new meaning to the old cliche that you can’t win the tournament on Thursday, but you sure can lose it.

Could the rise of golf’s kiddie corps take a back seat this week at the Masters?

The Minneapolis Tribune called it a masterpiece. Thirteen-year-old me couldn’t but agree.

Jack Nicklaus believes Rory McIlroy is the man to beat in the Masters as he seeks to complete the career grand slam with a victory at Augusta National.

Dustin Raymond has carried a black marker to every Masters since 1991 to collect autographs on yellow souvenir flags with the Masters logo in the centre.

From McIlroy to Tiger, we look at the talking points ahead of Augusta. 

Rory McIlroy might not be a country music fan but if he’s looking for advice on winning the Masters and completing the career Grand Slam, Sky Sports analyst Paul McGinley has some words of wisdom.

In every sport, there’s a team, or a venue, or an event, or a player that proves to be someone’s nemesis. Sometimes it just gets in the player’s head but it proves to be a complete bogeyman… and golf is littered with them, says Kevin Markham

Tiger Woods admits he is “winging it” ahead of his latest comeback, but still harbours ambitions to remind his kids and a new generation of rivals that he is more than “the YouTube golfer”.

Kenny Perry, who won the US Senior Open in July, never tasted major championship glory during an otherwise successful PGA Tour career.

Muhammad Ali stood alone on many fronts, but Joe Frazier, George Foreman and a few others still stood toe-to-toe with him in the ring. Jack Nicklaus contended with Arnold Palmer on the front end of his career and Tom Watson on the back end.

Matt Kuchar will attempt to bounce back from his Open Championship heartache by claiming his first PGA Tour title since 2014 in the RBC Canadian Open.

The year is 1973 and Jack Nicklaus is home alone. 

It’s only small — 1.68 inches in diameter — but it has always been a big issue in golf. Almost from the day that the first Scottish shepherd picked up a stick and whacked a wee stone across a field, there have been disputes about golf balls.

Way before Rory McIlroy turned professional in 2007 at the age of 18, it was obvious he already had enough talent to challenge the very best golfers in the game, but an impatient McIlroy always wanted more, writes John McHenry.

If the media drives sport and most of the money generated comes from TV broadcasting rights then it’s hardly surprising that professional sport worldwide has always been a star-driven enterprise dominated by the world’s greatest athletes.

Then there were two. As Gary Player and Jack Nicklaus performed their duties as honorary starters at the 81st Masters yesterday morning, an empty lawn chair was on the tee box with them that the previous year had been filled by their great friend Arnold Palmer.

They may be old men now, but the competitive spirit remains strong in both Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player.

On a day when Jordan Spieth got that sinking feeling again, Brian Keogh examines the major talking points...

In honour of the late Arnold Palmer, the Masters will give each spectator a commemorative "Arnie's Army" badge for tomorrow's first round.

Jordan Spieth might have found a new way to finish the front nine at the Masters. He’s just worried about trying it when anyone is looking.

McIlroy needs to win the Masters to join Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan and Gary Player in having claimed all four major titles.

Another year, another trip down Magnolia Lane and the pressure continues to build on Rory McIlroy to win the Masters and complete a career grand slam of major championships.

From the wholly unlikely, like Tiger Woods winning another Major or the Lions whitewashing the All Blacks, to the eminently probable, like Usain Bolt and Leo Messi reemphasising their credentials as wonders of the sporting world, we examine who might be rewriting the record books, month by month, in 2017.

Jack Nicklaus fought back the tears in an emotional tribute to his long-time friend and great rival at the memorial service for Arnold Palmer in Latrobe, Pennsylvania on Tuesday.

Rory McIlroy has suggested the US could be trying too hard to win back the Ryder Cup this week, preferring Europe’s natural recipe for success to the Americans’ taskforce-driven search for the formula.

Kevin Markham gives an A-Z to get you in the mood for the excitement of the Ryder Cup.