Woods: McIlroy heads chasing pack

Rory McIlroy may not yet consider it a rivalry but as Tiger Woods bids to end a five-season quest for his 15th Major championship, it is the Irishman whom he believes presents the biggest obstacle to a fifth Masters victory.

It is 15 years since Woods staked his first claim to golfing legend when he romped home by 12 strokes from Tom Kite in his first Major as a professional. And having seen off a handful of “main rivals” from David Duval and Vijay Singh to Phil Mickelson and Ernie Els over the intervening period, the recently restored world No 1 approaches his 19th Masters appearance with a wary eye on the man he usurped at the top of the rankings last month thanks to wins this season at Torrey Pines, Doral and Bay Hill.

“I think that over the course of my career, I’ve had a few,” Woods said of his main rivals. “You know, certainly Rory is this generation.

“I’ve had Phil and Vijay and Ernie and David for a number of years, and now Rory’s the leading [player] of this new, younger generation. So yes, definitely.”

Woods, who will tee off tomorrow 3:45pm Irish time as the tournament favourite, feels he is in the best shape for years, certainly since his personal and career meltdown in 2009, to pick up his pursuit of Jack Nicklaus’s record of 18 Majors, although it is now five years since his 14th win at the US Open and eight years since he last donned Augusta National’s famous green jacket as the tournament champion, a gap he would not have considered back in 2005.

“I wouldn’t have been happy with that,” he said.

Yet an urgency to get back in the winner’s enclosure is countered by his belief that Nicklaus’s longevity — he too, at age 37, had won 14 Majors — means winning 19 is still well within reach.

“I would like to be able to get to that point. It took Jack a while to get to 18, all the way until he was 46 years old. So there’s plenty of opportunities for me.

“You know, that’s one of the neat things about our career; it’s so long. We have an opportunity to play basically 30 years solidly at a high level. Some of the guys have come out here at 20 and done well into their 50s.

“We have very expansive careers and I feel like I’m basically right in the middle of mine. I have a lot of good years ahead of me and I’m excited about this week.”

Woods certainly feels he is in a good place, having struck a happy balance between his family life and his career, where he is reaping the rewards of rebuilding his swing with coach Sean Foley, landing those three early-season PGA Tour titles to take his tally to 77 wins.

“I feel comfortable with every aspect of my game. I feel that I’ve improved and I’ve got more consistent, and I think the wins show that.

“That’s something that I’m proud of so far this year, and hopefully I can continue it this week and the rest of the year.

“Last year, I won my first event in a couple years at Bay Hill, so that was a big difference. Since then, I’ve won six times in 12 months. So those are all positive things heading into this week.

“You know, playing well in the Florida Swing, winning twice there [at Doral and Bay Hill], and then headed up here, I feel very comfortable with where things are at.”

Another Major would do nicely also, of course, and asked if he would swap the world No 1 ranking he regained from McIlroy by winning at Bay Hill last month for a victory in the Masters on Sunday night, Woods replied: “Oh, absolutely. Are you kidding me?”