"Obviously Tiger, when he needs to step up, he does it," 2007 Masters winner Zach Johnson said.
An intimidating mystique still surrounds Tiger Woods, entering the Masters even after an eight-month lay-off for left knee surgery that had rivals flirting with his world number one ranking.
Ten months after hobbling his way to victory at the US Open and two weeks after a dramatic 72nd-hole putt
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to win the PGA Arnold Palmer Invitational, the 33-year-old superstar tees off on Thursday in the first major of his comeback.
Woods has won 14 major titles, four shy of matching boyhood idol Jack Nicklaus's all-time record, and sinking the tense 15-foot putt last week for his first triumph since injury showed he's in top form after rehabilitation.
"He's the greatest player of all time, arguably he or Jack, and he will get back to that level," two-time Masters champion Phil Mickelson said.
Former Masters winner Mark O'Meara warns that his friend Woods is "better than ever" and Ireland's Padraig Harrington, winner of the past two majors in Woods's absence, also expects great things.
"When something is taken away from you, you want it even more," Harrington said.
Spain's Sergio Garcia, who like Mickelson challenged for the top ranking before Woods won his 66th title to secure his spot, says Woods can sink putts simply through the force of his indomitable will.
"Some putts you get over, and you just can see the ball's going to go in," Garcia said. "Obviously he's able to do that when it matters the most down the stretch more than the rest of us and that's why he's a little bit above us."
Woods plays down the intimidation factor even though he always wears red when in the title hunt on Sundays.
"I'm in the wrong position to answer that one because I'm actually out there competing. I'm trying to beat them just how they're trying to beat me," Woods said.
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