Woods is seeking his fifth Masters title in 11 attempts

The Englishman will tee off in a group with Woods and Australian Aaron Baddeley at 1852 BST on Thursday.

Ryder Cup team-mates Padraig Harrington and Luke Donald are paired together, as are veterans Colin Montgomerie and Bernhard Langer.

England's Ian Poulter will be the second player to tee off at 1300 BST, with American Billy Mayfair.

Interview: Britain's Paul Casey

Woods is convinced that experience of the Augusta course and atmosphere will play a part in deciding the outcome of this year's Masters.

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The American is looking for a fifth Green Jacket in 11 years and says familiarity with the Augusta surroundings gives him an edge over his younger rivals.

"I was lucky that I had a big lead going into Sunday in 1997," he said.

"But in 2001 (his second win) my experiences of being in contention a few times helped me so much."

Paul Casey, Adam Scott and David Howell have all been tipped as possible younger rivals to Woods.

I'm a little bit nervous about not being in competition in so long or having been in contention in a while Phil Mickelson

But Casey is playing in just his third Masters, while Scott and Howell are both playing in their sixth, and Casey's sixth place in 2004 is the highest position any of them has finished.

"I just think it helps to be in contention too," said the world number one.

"To know how they deal with the back nine and all of the different roars and all of the different things that happen here on the back nine on Sunday."

Defending champion Phil Mickelson revealed he will be using a second driver designed specifically for Augusta.

"It's a driver that I've been working on specifically for the Masters because the length of the golf course is so long that I needed that extra length to combat it," said Mickelson.

"We've been working six months on this club for this tournament. I plan on using it a reasonable amount.

"The longer driver, the square-headed one, goes 20 yards longer than my regular one.

"When I try to hit little low shots or work around the trees on 10 or 13 I'll use the regular-shaped driver."

Mickelson admitted he has been worried by a couple of recent poor showings.

"I'm a little bit nervous about not being in competition in so long or having been in contention in a while," he said. "That's probably my biggest concern."

Ernie Els, twice a runner-up at Augusta, is another man looking for form.

"I don't particularly care if I was the favourite this week or nobody talks about me," said the South African.

"I need to do the job, I need to play golf and I need to play as good as I can.

"I've had some good tournaments here, some close finishes, but I'd love to get my arms in the Green Jacket."