Tiger Woods will set out today to remind everybody that, while others may be getting better, he is still the best - by far.

After eight starts without a victory on the US Tour - going back to September - the world number one is, for one week only, on the European circuit at the Dubai Desert Classic.

The main benefit for Woods this week could be the chance to prove his form has picked up and with the Masters just five weeks away, everything is on course.

At Augusta the 25-year-old will be attempting to go where no golfer has gone before by holding that title along with the US Open, British Open and US PGA he so memorably collected last season.

The chance to complete the set is close - and so, Woods feels, is his next win. For mere mortals a sequence so far this year of eighth, fifth, 13th, fourth and 13th would be acceptable. But not for Woods. And even the dreaded word "slump" has cropped up.

He does not see it that way, and it was only jet-lag after a 25hour journey from Los Angeles that was bothering him on the eve of the tournament.

"It's been a pretty good season so far," he said. "My stroke average is almost exactly the same as it was last year.

"The difference is I just haven't won. I've given myself chances, and that's all you can do. Sometimes the breaks don't go with you; sometimes they do.

"My appetite hasn't changed. The hard part is getting everything to come together at the same time in the right week. Last year I had that quite a few times and was very fortunate. I hope I can get it again.

"You need to have a lot of breaks go your way - last year balls came out of trees, and in Canada I hit a guy on the fly and made birdie."

Woods insists that while there is some frustration from going as long as he has without winning it does not hurt and it is not getting to him.

"The ultimate goal obviously is to win, but you have to be realistic about it. You're not going to win every tournament you play."

One tournament Europe's number one Lee Westwood looks unlikely to win is the Masters - because it is unlikely he will be there.

His wife, Laurae, is expecting their first child on Augusta Saturday, April 7th, and Westwood says he will not travel just before the birth.

Westwood is in Dubai, though, for what is the longawaited start of his defence of the Order of Merit title.

The 27-year-old from Worksop has played just once since early December and said: "I just felt tired - the last four years I suppose had caught up with me a bit. I felt the seasons were just starting to run into one another.

"I came out here last Friday and I'm raring to go - but I'll need another run before I'm in form."

Ireland's Darren Clarke has also won already this year - in South Africa second time out.

Both he and Westwood had wins over Woods last season, but Colin Montgomerie has never lifted a title with the American in the field.

The advantage he has now, though, is that he is back on an Emirates courses where he won in 1996 and was second in 1995.