Try as they might to dispute it, the fear factor generated when Tiger Woods is atop the leaderboard in a major championship still exists.

Indeed, within minutes of collecting his third Masters green jacket in six years at Augusta National on Sunday - and worryingly for those who themselves aspire to such heights - the eyes of the Tiger had started to shift.

Already, golf's undisputed world number one had started to focus in on Bethpage, a municipal course on Long Island, which plays host to the US Open in June.

Last year, when Woods won the US Masters to take his fourth major in a row, the so-called "Tiger Slam," he created history by becoming the first player to hold them all simultaneously.

The feat wasn't achieved in the one calendar year, however, so didn't constitute the real Grand Slam. What this latest Masters success has done is to give Woods a chance to do it the right way.

"I've done four in a row before, but it would be nice to do a four in a row in the same year. It would be different than how I did it last time," remarked Woods.

Indeed, Woods intends to "play early" at Bethpage to get familiarised with a course that constitutes the next step in his grand plan - but the evidence from Sunday's final round at Augusta, when a leaderboard representing five other players from the world's top seven in the rankings effectively self-destructed, is that the player still holds an impossibly strong control over those seeking to dethrone him.

Question marks must be raised about the mettle of some players when in pursuit of Woods in a major.

His victory on Sunday was the seventh time in his seven major successes that Woods has either led or shared the lead going into the final round and, equally impressive, it was the 23rd out of 25 times on the US Tour that he has won after being leader or co-leader after 54 holes.

There is no disputing his dominant position in majors.

Woods has now won five of the last 10 major championships and, as Padraig Harrington observed, "he is good enough that he builds up his game for the weeks he needs it".

Perhaps in terms of the golfing world, the most worrying aspect to Sunday's play was that a quality chasing pack never really applied the pressure on Woods, who was able to win by three shots without shooting the lights out.

Woods disputed that there was no pressure coming down the stretch.

"I still had to continue playing and continue plugging along. I knew if I did that, then it would make it difficult for the guys to make a run at the end."

Nobody did make anything resembling a run, and Woods's third Masters win - only Jack Nicklaus won three younger, and even then he was only a month younger - means that he also has Nicklaus' record six green jackets in his sights. Nicklaus (6) and Arnold Palmer (4) are the only players to have won more US Masters titles, while Woods joins Jimmy Demaret, Sam Snead, Gary Player and Nick Faldo on three.

If anything, the rain that affected the tournament on Friday and into Saturday - which softened the fairways and made it play long, while also softening the greens - played into the hands of the big-hitters, and especially Woods who has added distance control and more finesse to his armoury since he won his first Masters in 1997.

"I am hitting the ball just a touch shorter (than 1997) because I've dialed my swing back, kept the ball more in play. I have the ability to hit it as far as I did in '97, but I don't. I don't swing at it that hard anymore.

"I like to keep the ball in play and manoeuvre it around and try different shots. I think this golf course allows you to play creatively. You get to hit different shots. You use your imagination around the greens. You have different kinds of putts.

"We're playing bump and run, high lobs, spinners and all different types of shots," said Woods.

Although the weather changed how the tournament was played out - players arrived a week ago to be met by firm and fast greens, only for them to become more receptive due to the thunderstorms at the start of the tournament - it is interesting to note that the changes to the course altered the difficulty of holes.

In the all-time statistics from 1942 to 2001, the 18th hole was considered a relatively weak finishing hole and was ranked only sixth in difficulty.

The extra 60 yards on the 18th hole - increasing it from 405 to 465 yards - transformed it into the toughest hole on the course, and one more worthy of being a decisive hole.

Sadly, on this occasion, the pursuers had given up the chase long before Woods got to drive down the tunnel of trees for a last time.