Stage set for classic Masters battle

The most hotly anticipated Masters in years gets underway early April 9 morning under the towering Georgia pines of Augusta National with a host of gripping potential story lines.
      
First and foremost is the return to competitive play of four-time winner Tiger Woods after a two-month timeout to try and get his game back together.
      
So far in the buildup this week, the signs are all positive for him. Mentally and physically he looks a different man to the one who was driven off the course in a golf cart after 11 first-round holes at the Farmers Insurance tournament in February.
      
Then, world number one Rory McIlroy, who a new survey says has replaced Woods as the most marketable golfer in the world, looks to enter the history books as just the sixth golfer to complete a career Grand Slam of the four majors.
      
Defending champion Bubba Watson is out to become just the second man -- after Jack Nicklaus -- to win three Masters in four years.
      
Adam Scott can make it two wins in three years, while a new wave of young American golfers, led by Jordan Spieth and Patrick Reed, are firmly knocking at the door of major glory.
      
The Augusta National "patrons," as golf fans are called here, will have to bide their time to see Woods in action as he goes off in the penultimate grouping of the day at 1748 GMT alongside Welsh Davis Cup star Jamie Donaldson and in-form fellow American Jimmy Walker.
      
Late or early, the 39-year-old superstar is just glad to be back in action on a course where he has enjoyed the greatest moments of his career to date.
      
"There is no other tournament in the world like this, and to come back to a place that I've had so many great memories at and...