Woods won at Bay Hill in only his third tournament back. It assured his position at No. 1 in the world and made him the favorite again at the Masters, although now with perhaps more challengers since the start of the decade.

Padraig Harrington won the British Open and PGA Championship while Woods was away, and neither came with an asterisk. The Irishman, who has shown a remarkable knack for bearing down on the back nine at majors, goes to the Masters with a chance to join Woods and Ben Hogan as the only players to win three straight majors in the 93 years that there have been at least three on the menu.

"It's nice that I am going for three in a row,'' Harrington said. "It means I did something right in the last two majors.''

The last player who had that chance was Phil Mickelson.

Mickelson hasn't come close to winning another major since that meltdown at Winged Foot in 2006, but that might change. The two-time Masters champion won twice in his last three starts going into the Shell Houston Open — starting, perhaps coincidentally, with word that Woods was ready to return to golf. Perhaps no two players today are better suited for Augusta National than Woods and Mickelson.

Sergio Garcia had a mathematical chance to be No. 1, which only indicates how close he is — not only to the ranking, but toward shedding the burden of the best to have never won a major. He came closer than ever at the last major, the PGA Championship, until Harrington rallied on the back nine at Oakland Hills.

It was Garcia's ninth top-five in a major, as many as Mickelson had when he won his first major at 33.

"I feel like I've been a good, solid player throughout my career,'' Garcia said. "You guys always compare to one guy, and it's kind of unfair for the rest because he's extraordinary. He's a little bit different than the rest. I feel like I've done well."

Garcia is only 29, but that practically makes him a dinosaur compared with some of these kids at the Masters. Three teenagers — Ryo Ishikawa (17), U.S. Amateur champion Danny Lee (18) and Rory McIlroy (19) — will make their debut at Augusta National, and all of them have already won on recognized tours.

Woods became the youngest Masters champion at age 21 in 1997. This year, 41 players are older than Woods.

Slideshow   Masters history Take a look at some of the golfers who have excelled at the Masters and the records they hold. NBCSports.com

Not even he knows how much longer he will play. Woods first said in 2005 that he will leave the PGA Tour when his best isn't good enough to win. Even so, odds are he is closer to the end of his career than the beginning.

Swing coach Hank Haney doesn't see how Woods can do anything but get better, especially now that his left knee is stable.

"One thing Tiger always talks about is trying to improve as a person and a golfer," Haney said. "And when you live your life like that, you'll keep getting better. He just keeps getting more experience, and he's experiencing new things in life. With children, just from being around him, they certainly teach you patience."

Woods is known for a blank stare when he shows up on any given Sunday, particularly when he's in the lead or in the last group. But at Bay Hill, a young boy boldly walked up to him in the breezeway as Woods headed to the practice range and asked for an autograph. "What's the magic word?" Woods said, signing as the boy said apologetically, "Please."

After he failed to birdie the par-5 sixth for the fourth straight day, Woods walked briskly from the green past a 6-year-old boy who said in a quiet voice, "Good job, Tiger."

Woods looked him in the eye and said, "Thanks, little dude."

Slideshow   Augusta National Take a hole-by-hole look at the famed course on which the Masters is played. NBCSports.com

He was reminded of the tantrum he threw at Doral last year when a three-putt bogey on the last hole put him in a foul mood, even though he shot 67. Woods stormed off the course, into a terse interview and out to the parking lot, fuming until he got to his boat and saw his daughter, Sam, crawling toward him.

"Don't even know what I shot after that," he said the next day.

And how long would he have carried that anger in the early stages of his career?

"There probably would have been a few backup sand wedges that would have been altered," he said, laughing as he got into his car to drive home with another trophy.

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