Standing on the back of the 18th green at Augusta National, even on a practice day, the crowds take their place with due diligence. People squeeze into spaces on the mounds, or deftly manoeuvre a way inside the roped-off area retained for those spectators with portable seats. The word is out, and the world's number one golfer will shortly come into view.

One grey-haired man with a southern drawl takes to a running commentary for a younger companion, but loud enough for those a lob-wedge shot away to hear, whether they want to or not. "There's Tiger, he's wearing a black top and grey shirt . . . he's (playing) with (Mark) O'Meara, (Jose Maria) Olazabal . . .

and some other guy," comes the self-appointed commentator.

David Feherty and Peter Allis can rest easily. Their jobs are not under threat.

The other guy, incidentally, is the young American amateur Casey Wittenberg, a Walker Cup player. Although only 28 years of age, Woods has taken on the responsibility of being a guiding light to young players in the Masters.

Woods remembers that when he first played a practice round here, Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus took it on themselves to show him the ropes. Now, he's returning the favour. He played with the young Australian Nick Flanagan, the US amateur champion, on Monday; yesterday, it was the turn of Wittenberg.

There's a story he tells the young kids, of his own first competitive round in the Masters. He was paired with Olazabal and ripped a drive over the bunker on the right hand side of the first fairway, and was left with just a sand wedge to the green. "I hit my putt and missed it just on the top side, and it kept on rolling and rolling and then actually the gallery is parting. I chipped back up and made the putt, a great two-putt, a two-putt technically.

"I keep telling every amateur that story because no matter how bad it seems, how nervous you are, more than likely they're never going to have that experience of putting off the green on your first putt in competition."

When Woods is reminded that this is his 10th Masters appearance, he visibly winces. He has mustered a lot of golfing experience into his time on the planet. Someone asks can he imagine playing another 40, just like Arnold Palmer? "I hope I'm not fertiliser by then," quips back Woods, then more solemnly adding: "I swear, playing 40 more of these is incredible, absolutely incredible. For one thing, to have the luck of never being injured all those years . . . and another, being in good enough shape to play and having the desire to compete each year."

For Woods, after an opening campaign that has seen him muster just one win in the Accenture matchplay, this is another moment of truth in his career. "I feel like I'm playing well, that the things I've been working on are starting to come together, which is great. It's exciting. As far as the mass hysteria about my game being off, it's different for me. Some other player has a bad week, misses the cut, it's no big deal. It slips through the radar, whereas I shoot one bad round and it is a little bit different. I think it's just the expectation levels, it's not like I am not trying out there."

Although he has accumulated eight major titles, the nervous anticipation remains. "You're nervous any time you come into a major championship week, because you know how big it is. It's what we dream of as kids, why we practice all those hours. This is what it's all about, playing major championships and being ready for the biggest events. I think this one creates a little bit more excitement because there's such a long time span between the (US) PGA and here versus the other upcoming three majors."

Yet, the statistics show that Woods has not won a major in his last six attempts, and that he is entering the longest time span in his professional career without possessing a major title. For the world's number one, that hurts.