Unlike Casper, Woods never had a problem with weight, but his body seems to have undergone a metamorphosis of another kind in recent years. Once as thin as a 1-iron, his upper body now ripples with muscles Mickelson could only dream about, and his Popeye arms threaten to split open his short sleeves with every swing.

In his early years as a pro, Woods wore shirts so baggy that Charles Howell III once said he could make four outfits out of them. These days he looks as if each specially selected Nike original either started life two sizes too small or was accidentally put in the hot water wash.

If Woods was playing for the San Francisco Giants, the only logical conclusion would be that he’s juiced. The U.S. Attorney’s office would have long ago called him before a grand jury and tried to get him to not only confess, but rat out Mickelson as his supplier at the same time.

Such is the suspicion of our times, where even gentlemen golfers don’t get a break. Woods doesn’t help himself when he plays coy about his extensive workout program, but no one seriously thinks he is using anything stronger than his new Gatorade drink. Woods himself is one of the few players who have been publicly supportive of the tour’s effort to implement drug testing.

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As for Augusta National, well, that’s another issue. There’s little doubt the course is on steroids, from the telltale second cut of rough to the supersized par-4s that played so tough last year no one managed to break par over four rounds.

The changes made to the famed course were merely a response to the arms race in golf that escalated in recent years as clubs got bigger, balls flew straighter, and players got bulkier. Golf has become a power game, and there’s no better example of that than at the Masters, where players now just take aim and blast the ball rather than work it around the course as in the past.

Put the top players in the game together today and they look more like middle linebackers than golfers. Mickelson, Woods, Vijay Singh, Ernie Els and Padraig Harrington make Nicklaus in his prime look more like the Golden Cub.

None, though, are cut anything like Woods, who looks like he can’t wait to get home to flex in front of the mirror. His transformation from a gangly and — let’s face it, geeky — young player into the muscle-bound physical specimen he is today is just as startling as the way he has emerged as the greatest ever to play the game.

His late father, Earl, predicted as much in 2001 when he said that Woods would get exponentially better as he grew physically more mature. At the time, Woods was coming off the so-called Tiger Slam of four straight major championships and the statement seemed outlandish.

Slide show   Week in Sports Pictures Flying on the hardwood, racing on the rink, getting physical on the gridiron, and much more. more photos

Not so anymore. Woods tees off Thursday in search of his fifth Masters win and with the very real possibility he could become the first since Bobby Jones to win the Grand Slam.

He’s always intimidated other players with his game.

Now he does it with his physique, too.

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