Woods: Chasing down Nicklaus
Tiger Woods will resume his pursuit of golf's greatest record at The Masters - and if his performance is half as gripping as his last major then we are all in for a treat.
When he overcame serious injury to capture the US Open last June, and so move only four behind Jack Nicklaus' 18 majors, Woods himself described it as "probably the greatest tournament I've ever had".
But when he then added "I'm going to shut it down for a little bit here and see what happens" everybody wondered just how much damage he had done to himself pulling off the feat.
Three days later Woods announced that he was to have reconstructive surgery on his left knee and, just to add to his astonishing achievement in battling for 91 holes, that he had also played with a double stress fracture of his left tibia.
The US Open, which was in itself Woods' first event since The Masters two months earlier, was to prove his last of 2008.
But even with the long lay-off the 33-year-old is still way ahead of schedule in terms of trying to catch and overtake Nicklaus.
The Golden Bear was already 35 when he won his 14th major and 38 when his next came in the 1978 Open at St Andrews.
Given also that Nicklaus was 46 when the 1986 Masters completed a career haul that was seven more than anybody else at the time, Woods knows there is no need to rush things on his return, no requirement to feel that he has to make up for lost time.
Competitor
Being the competitor he is, though, he will not want to give any of his main rivals the thought that he is not the player he was.
His road back to fitness has all been with The Masters in mind.
Augusta National is where Nicklaus predicted that Woods, still an amateur then, had the game to win more green jackets than him and Arnold Palmer combined - at least 11 in other words.
So far the tally stands at four, two short of Nicklaus' record for the tournament, but it could already have been Woods' record.
Since beating Chris DiMarco in a play-off in 2005 he has finished third, second and second again.
Woods looks forward to going to Augusta like kids look forward to Christmas.
The length of the course eliminates many of the field, although Zach Johnson showed what could be done two years ago when he laid up at every single par five and won.
The lightning-fast greens take more out of the equation and experience means so much as well. Since 1935, the second Masters, Fuzzy Zoeller is the only debutant to have tasted victory. That was 30 years ago.
The way Woods was playing before he was forced out of the game - an incredible 10 wins in his last 13 starts - this might have been the season when he got to 18 majors.
He still might, of course, but winning all four on his return to the big stage is surely beyond even this remarkable man.
Now Woods tries to show what is possible at 33 - not on one leg, but back on two.
