Woods and Casey played three rounds together at the Masters

Woods is bidding for a successful defence of his WGC-CA Championship title for an eighth straight victory.

Casey, 28th in the world, played 54 holes with Woods at the 2007 Masters and said: "It raises my game a little. You can feed off his focus and energy.

"He's setting the pace, so why not be right next to him and see how you go?"

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Casey went on: "He's great to play with because he compliments you if you hit a good shot.

"I stay in my own little bubble but there have been occasions when you witness things that are a little different."

Tiger just thinks really clearly and simply - he's not trying to be a hero Justin Rose

Casey tied for 10th at Augusta last year, with Woods in a tie for second, but the Englishman missed the cut at last week's Arnold Palmer Invitational, won by Woods.

The 32-year-old American has now won nine of his last 10 starts since last July's Open and was second in the other event.

He has not always dominated his events, but has delivered the killer punch when it matters. He holed a 24-foot putt on the 18th at Bay Hill on Sunday to beat countryman Bart Bryant by one stroke.

"What people talk about in the locker room is how does he putt so well every week?" said Australia's 2006 US champion Geoff Ogilvy.

"Lots of guys can work out how to hit it well every week, but week in and week out, he seems to make bombs all over the place, which is not easy."

England's Justin Rose, the world number seven, said Woods's rivals need to concentrate on playing the course, rather than trying to take him on.

"It looks spectacular what he's doing, but he's doing it by such a simple strategy," Rose told BBC Sport.

"He's hitting into the middle of the greens down stretch. Obviously, he made a great putt on the last hole but what he said after was that he was just concentrating on pace.

"So he is just thinking really clearly and really simply. He's not trying to be a hero. It just shows what it takes to win a golf tournament.

Tiger has a good career every year Geoff Ogilvy

"You've got think that if he does get it all together and you get it all together, then, yeah, probably he's going to beat you.

"He plays the golf course and that's the key for the rest of us - not to get sucked into playing Tiger because in a sense he's got more skills than us."

Woods is chasing Byron Nelson's record of 11 straight wins on the PGA Tour, set in 1945.

"Tiger has a good career every year," added Ogilvy. "Last year would have been a good career for anybody, a major and seven other tournaments."

Woods will try to extend his winning streak at a course - the Blue Monster - where he has enjoyed plenty of success.

He has won at Doral for the past three years, twice on the PGA Tour and last year in the World Golf Championship event.

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This year's field has been set at 79 players, with Open champion Padraig Harrington the only one among the world's top 50 absent as he builds up to the Masters, the year's first major, which starts on 10 April.

Colin Montgomerie, who missed the cut at Bay Hill last week, needs to finish in the top four to climb from 66th into the world's top 50.

Northern Ireland's Graeme McDowell needs a top-five placing after rising to 59th with victory in the European Tour's Ballantine's Championship in South Korea at the weekend.

The pair will then have to remain in the top 50 when the world golf rankings are published on 31 March to secure a berth at Augusta.

Rose, Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter, Luke Donald, Nick Dougherty, Ross Fisher and Graeme Storm make up the British contingent.