Sunday 1 April 2018 18:12, UK
Paul McGinley assesses Tiger Woods' chances of major victory at Augusta and discusses what makes Rory McIlroy so entertaining to watch.
It is fantastic what Tiger Woods has done and to see him back in the game and for golf to have the narrative of him being there.
This is a prime example of a guy who can etch it out when he isn't really at the top of his game. He is basically hitting it all over the world with his driver, yet he is still etching out those big finishes in big tournaments.
It's great that he's back. I think there's a few more hurdles for him to jump yet for him to be a real contender in a major. I'd be surprised to see him winning the Masters, but I wouldn't be surprised to see him contending.
The other thing we have yet to see tested is the mental side of Woods' game. We saw him playing the Valspar Championship, needing a birdie to get in to a play-off, where he played the 18th so negatively with an iron off the tee.
We saw him in contention at Bay Hill, where he got to the 16th hole and then hit it way left and out of bounds.
I'd still like to see a little bit more mentally from Tiger in this resurgence. We know he's capable of it, as he did it in the first part of his career. Has he still got that competiveness when it really gets in the heat? That still hasn't been answered yet.
I think we have to give him a lot of credit for how quickly he has come back and to be where we're talking about him, but he hasn't separated himself yet and we still have to see that.
The chances of it happening in a major championship I think are slim. I think we will see that again, but probably not in a major.
To go from being contending having not contended for three years in to winning a major championship is a huge leap to make mentally, even for Tiger.
Other contenders
What's great about the likes of Justin Thomas and Rory McIlroy is that they're great when their confidence is up. When they're on their game, they look awesome and look invincible.
When they're off their game, one thing they need to put into their armoury is to churn out a 68 or 69 when their game isn't quite there.
If you look at Rory McIlroy's DNA since he turned professional, it has never been a straight line. There have been a lot of drops as well as highs in his career.
He goes through a lot of flat periods and a lot of times where things aren't working for him and then they quickly turn around and go the other way.
That's just the nature of the beast. It's one of the reasons that makes him so appealing to watch and makes him so charismatic as a golfer.
Watch the Masters throughout the week live on Sky Sports Golf. Live coverage of the opening round begins on Thursday from 7pm on Sky Sports Golf and Sky Sports Main Event.
