Augusta, Georgia - When Tiger Woods sunk a 4.6-metre putt on the 18th hole of the Arnold Palmer Invitational to beat Sean O'Hair to the title March 29 it was like a friendly warning: The Tiger is back.

   Going into the final round at the Bay Hill Club and Lodge in Orlando, Florida, Woods was five shots behind O'Hair, but in typical Tiger fashion, the 33-year-old staged a comeback.

   And just in time for the first major of the year, the Masters that starts Thursday at the Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia, Woods has thrown down the gauntlet to those who thought that it would take him longer to come back from a knee operation he underwent a few days after winning the US Open in June.

   His 14 majors leaves him just four shy of Jack Nicklaus' total, and few would bet against Woods beating the Golden Bears' total.

   Woods said that 12 years ago, when he won his first major, he had no idea that he could close in on Nicklaus' record: "I would never have foreseen myself winning this many Championships this soon, but I'm not going to say it's a bad thing, either."

   For Woods, coming back from injury has not been that difficult, he said, adding that he did not have to retrain his mind to win tournaments. "You enter a tournament to win," he said.

   He said his competitiveness came through even during his injury lay-off. "My rush every day was trying to get in the gym and improve and improve on what I did the day before," Woods said. "That was my competitiveness coming out.

   "I had to apply it differently, and I could not get better at golf because one, I couldn't touch a club, and I couldn't practice, so the one thing I could do was try to get better physically, and certainly, that was a challenge."

   He sees several talented youngsters like Anthony Kim, Rory McIlroy and Camilo Villegas who could do well in Augusta. "I think there's quite a few guys," he said. "Obviously, Camilo and Anthony had great years last year, and Rory just won in Dubai.

   "It's just a matter of time before these guys gain experience in major championships. That's something that they have not done yet. Once you start getting a taste of it, start getting a feel for it, it's just a matter of time.

   "But you look at their games, they certainly have the talent. It's just a matter of gaining the experience."

   There are, of course, several other players who would prove a challenge to Woods - among them Phil Mickelson, Sergio Garcia and Padraig Harrington, who are ranked second, third and fifth in the world, respectively.

   Unlike Mickelson and Harrington, Garcia has still to win a first major and with 13 top 10 finishes in the four majors, the Spaniard seems destined to pick one up sooner or later with many experts predicting sooner rather than later.

   But while South African Trevor Immelman, who last year stunned the field to win, is out to defend his title, another South African has said that he is playing at the Masters for the last time.

   Gary Player, who last year passed Arnold Palmer for the most Masters played at 51, has said that this year's edition will be the last time he will play in the tournament he has won three times.

   The players in the field go into the tournament not knowing what the total prize money is as the organizers traditionally only announce the winner's purse and the total purse at the end of the third round.

   But given a total purse of 7.5 million dollars last year and a winner's cheque of 1.35 million dollars, there is plenty to play for at the Masters, which was first held in 1934.