All trail in Tiger’s wake

TIGER WOODS will become the first man to win three successive Masters titles on Sunday.

A sweeping statement? Hardly, given the nature of golf. Woods is head and shoulders above every other player in the field and has only to play close to his best to slip on the green jacket for the fourth time at the weekend.

Woods won't be bothering about the others, won't ponder about who may be challenging him come Sunday afternoon, stressing that "if you start thinking that way, you're not doing any good for yourself."

He said: "I've got to go out there, play my game and give myself a chance to win this tournament. And whoever is there on the back nine on Sunday is there. You can't pick out a couple of guys and say these are the guys I need to beat, because they may not be there. I need to get there myself."

With three Masters titles in eight years, it's clear Woods feels comfortable under the cathedral pines and between the azaleas and dogwood. From the first time he came here as a teenage amateur in 1995, he felt at home. He saw a golf course with wide open fairways and no rough. This is for me, he thought. Three green jackets later, that feeling has been reinforced a thousandfold.

They have tried to 'Tigerproof' the place. Not possible. I feel like I have a pretty good understanding of how to play each hole. After all the rain, it's playing long and will certainly favour someone who is hitting the ball high, long and straight."

He's too clever by half to say who, but you know exactly which player he has in mind.

Having recovered from knee surgery, he went out and used a dazzling array of shots to win the WGC-Accenture World Match Play and the Bay Hill Invitational in the kind of undesirable conditions we have been enduring here so far this week. He has already won three times in 2002 and is further encouraged by the fact his injured knee has been successfully dealt with.

"It's a good feeling to be at that level again where I can go ahead and make my move, hit any shot without any kind of physical ramifications. I really would like to win this week. It would be huge to win three Masters in a row. No one's ever done it before. If you're ever in that position, you want to take advantage because it doesn't happen all the time."

It's not just that Woods is the best player in the 93-strong field and by some distance. He is also the strongest mentally, not intimidated by the level of expectation and the fact that he is invariably the hottest of hot favourites.

"I feel I can handle it. You just have to think your way around this golf course," he declares. The bookmakers could stand accused of being particularly tight-fisted given that 6/4 is about the best price you are likely to get against Woods. In my view, they are spot on once again. They rate Ernie Els next best at 13/2 and Davis

Love lll at 12/1.

But Els missed out on the TPC because of a wrist injury that insiders claim is still bothering him, despite his own denials, while Love's victory, magnificent as it was at Sawgrass, was the direct result of an inspired final round which may happen only once in a career.

In the unlikely event of Woods having an off-week, Els has the credentials. He also has the length and ball flight that Woods deems so important here, he was second in 2000 and sixth and fifth in the last two years. He started the campaign with four wins on the European and US Tours and, of course, he is the current Open champion.

"I've been working on my swing with Led (coach David Leadbetter) for the last four or five days and I feel like I'm coming back to where I was at the end of last year," he claims. "I'm really striking the ball nicely. Also, a break helps your mental attitude. I don't want to show up and make the cut and make a good cheque. I want to compete. If you don't get yourself up for Augusta and the Masters, you probably never will so I'll be ready."

After his heroics at Sawgrass, Love is the form man and is another blessed with the necessary power. Phil Mickelson, in spite of his many major disappointments, must be seen as a contender. Retief Goosen was second last year and comes in with an impressive recent track record, while Vijay Singh, the 2000 champion, has proved himself at Augusta. A likely outsider? Perhaps a few euro on Steve Lowery will be money well spent.

And then there's the Irish. Padraig Harrington is on offer at 25/1, Darren Clarke at 50/1. In each case, there is no denying the value. What they are

hoping for is to play themselves into contention on Sunday and then see how they respond to the pressure.

Clarke was eighth on his first visit here in 1997. Harrington was fifth, 12 months ago. They have served the necessary apprenticeship and probably know as much about the intricacies of Augusta as it is possible to know.

Frankly, however, I doubt if they or anybody else can hold back the Tiger.