By Phil Casey, PA Sport, Augusta

Jack Nicklaus believes it will be easier for Tiger Woods to win his third straight Masters title this week than his first one.

Nicklaus is one of only two players before Woods to have the chance to win an unprecedented hat-trick of green jackets at Augusta.

The 63-year-old missed the cut by one on his attempt in 1967, while Nick Faldo finished joint 12th in 1991, five shots behind winner Ian Woosnam.

But Nicklaus would not be surprised to see Woods slipping on his fourth green jacket on Sunday evening, and go on to fulfil his prophecy that the world number one will eventually win more Masters titles than the 10 he and Arnold Palmer won between them.

"The hardest time to win is the first time," said Nicklaus, who missed out on playing here last year with a back injury. "It's easier to win it the second time and certainly has to be a little easier the third time.

"I just happened to play like a dog the third time I was here. I shot 79 in the second round and missed the cut and didn't give myself an opportunity.

"But I think Tiger's always played very very well when he's on a golf course that he knows. It would not surprise me in the least to see Tiger win it again.

"I always feel records are made to be broken and if a man is good enough to win it three times in a row, more power to him.

"I still think it's a distinct possibility he could win as many Masters as Arnold and I combined. I mean, if I can win six of them and somebody plays really well, there's no reason why they can't win more than that - or maybe even 10.

"He never ceases to amaze me. What I've always liked about Tiger, I like his work ethic, I like his focus and he wants to be the best. I wanted to be the best too, but he really has pushed everything else aside to do that.

"Do I think I could have been a better player if I would have pushed everything aside and focused on it? Yeah, probably could have been. But do I think I would have missed something in life? Probably so.

"Golf is a game. It's been great to me but it wasn't the only thing in my life. I got married when I was 20 years old and by his age I had three kids. But he has the ability to see what his position could be in the game of golf and he is focusing on that situation.

"I never really focused on it. I just wanted to be the best I could be. I think he's focusing on how he wants to be the best that there ever was. And that's fine. I said I want to be the first to shake his hand when he breaks my record (of 18 major titles)."

Meanwhile, Palmer will make his 49th consecutive appearance in the Masters after the club rescinded a policy preventing former champions from using their lifetime exemption to the event beyond the age of 65.

And the 73-year-old, who is targeting his half century at Augusta next year, had some advice for the pretenders to Woods' crown, and in particular their reliance on sports psychologists.

"My psychologist was my father, and he never went to college," said Palmer. "He said 'Be tough boy. Go out and play and if you listen to anyone you're not too smart. If you start listening to other people when you're out there I have a job pushing a lawn mower here at Latrobe Country Club, you can come back and do that'. And he was right, 100% right.

"There's a thing about the way the guys play today that is probably more 'you go to the office and you do your job'. I'm not sure that maybe there wasn't a little more emotion attached to it back in the earlier days of the tour. The emotion got to a high and the guys came on strong.

"I wouldn't mind applying some of that emotion and feeling to Tiger when he's playing. I think he develops an emotion that brings out the adrenaline and makes him play much better at times."