Tiger Woods arrived at Augusta on Monday with fellow American Steve Stricker saying the four-time Masters champion will be unstoppable if he is on form.
The world number one launches his bid for a fifth green jacket and a 14th major title on Thursday having triumphed in nine of his last 11 starts.
“Obviously he’s the favorite coming in here,” world number four Stricker told reporters after practice on Monday.
“I mean, the course, and his play, the way he’s played this year, there’s no question he’s the odds-on favorite to win here.”
Woods has been virtually unstoppable this year, winning his first four tournaments before finishing fifth at last month’s WGC-CA Championship in Miami.
“How many has he won here already, four? That shows you something right there. You realize that he’s the guy to beat,” the PGA Tour’s 2006 and 2007 comeback player of the year added.
“If he plays well, no one is going to beat him. I’ve seen him enough lately that if he’s on his game, he’s impossible to beat.”
“He can’t have any slip-ups. It’s just tough to win a golf tournament and there’s so many good players that he’s going to have to play well to do it.”
With talk of a calendar grand slam abounding, Stricker said that a lot of intangibles will have to go right if Woods is to become the first to achieve golf’s greatest accomplishment.
“There’s a lot of factors that go into winning a golf tournament,” said Striker. “He (Woods) knows that, too?
“Especially going over to the British Open; you could get on the wrong side of a draw over there and be 10 shots back in a hurry.
“You’ve got to have some good breaks, and you have to play well, and hopefully, someone else doesn’t just tear it up that week, too, which is always a possibility.”
