Nicklaus fancies Woods to go well (Getty Images)

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According to Jack Nicklaus - and there is no higher authority in golf - there is just one dominant player in the sport going into the Masters.

The world rankings say the best golfer on the planet is Vijay Singh. By Sunday night it could be Ernie Els. Or Phil Mickelson might have become only the fourth player to make a successful defence at Augusta.

But that will not change Nicklaus's mind.

More than that, he does not think there should even be an argument about it. And the man he considers to be the man is Tiger Woods.

"I don't think Tiger has played his best the last year or so, but he's still obviously the dominant player," said the 65-year-old Golden Bear, who will be playing his 45th and possibly last Masters this week.

"He's got so much talent. Like anybody who has dominated the game - myself maybe or whoever it might have been at the time - Tiger doesn't have to play his best to win.

"But when he plays his best he's going to probably win.

"The other guys have all had to bring their game up, but Tiger may have another stretch like he had. He may have a couple more."

Woods is without a major since the 2002 US Open, but that was his seventh in 11 attempts and his eighth in all. The other, of course, was the 1997 Masters when he broke the record Nicklaus set by scoring 18-under and triumphed by 12.

Stunning though that was, the 2000 season showed it was no fluke. He took the US Open at Pebble Beach by 15 and the Open at St Andrews by eight.

"He's certainly blessed with a wealth of talent and he's got a fantastic work ethic and a great desire to win," added Nicklaus, who in 1996 predicted that Woods had the ability to win more Masters than him and Arnold Palmer combined.

At least 11, in other words.

"You're going to go through waves, I don't care who you are," Nicklaus continued. "One thing you want to do is try to control those waves.

"That's why I always built myself up for Augusta and (afterwards) let myself down. Built myself up for the US Open and let myself down. And built myself up for the British Open.

"I did that so that I was always trying to climb a mountain going into a major championship, so that I knew I was focused and working on what I was trying to do.

"That's how I kept myself playing and how I kept myself interested and how I kept kicking myself in the rear end just to get going.

"I didn't like to play poorly - it's just no fun. I don't think it's fun for anybody, but some people can't do anything about it!"

On eight, Woods is still 10 short of Nicklaus's major haul. And with Singh, Els and this week's defending champion Mickelson in the prime of their careers he knows it will be far from easy.

Nicklaus points out, however, that in his heyday he did not exactly have a clear run at things either.

"I knew when (Lee) Trevino came along he could really play. (Tom) Watson could really play."

And at the start there was Arnold Palmer and Gary Player, of course.

Woods hopes to prove Nicklaus right. And believes his best is still to come.

"I'm only 29 - I'm not over the hill yet," he said with a big smile.

"Everybody is always saying 'you can try to get back to 2000'. I don't want to - I want to become better.

"That's the whole idea of making a (swing) change. I won the Masters by 12 in '97 and I changed my game. Do I want to go back to that? No, I don't.

"I wanted to become better than that and I was able to achieve that. That's why I've made this change.

"I've been scrutinised over the past year or so for doing that and I'm starting to see the fruits of it now.

"I just wanted to get to a better level, a higher level and be more consistent day-in, day-out.

"Last year I was just getting started with the changes and this year I'm just putting the finishes touches. Last year I was just hoping to put myself in contention. This year I know that my ball-striking is there."