SCIOTOVILLE - Hit men.

AUGUSTA, Ga. - Vijay Singh doesn't often volunteer information, but he figured this was worth sharing.

His father, a former airline mechanic and part-time teaching pro in Fiji, has come all the way to Augusta National to watch Singh play in the Masters.

"It's the first time my dad is ever here," Singh said Tuesday.

Singh has done some amazing things since his father gave him a used set of clubs and watched him dash across the runway at the Nandi airport to get to the golf course.

A touring pro in Asia, then Europe. A game good enough to come to the PGA Tour and be rookie of

the year. A PGA Championship. A green jacket from the Masters. And now, at age 41 and fitter than

some of the flatbellies just out of college, a chance to replace Tiger Woods at No. 1 in the world.

The last part might be the longest road, but Singh could take a huge step in that direction with another victory in the Masters, which gets under way Thursday on an Augusta National course that is firm, fast and dangerous.

"I really focus on what I'm doing, what I need to do to improve my ranking if I'm playing," Singh said.

One reason there is so much attention on Woods' game coming into the Masters is that he has a legitimate threat for the first time since David Duval was No. 1 in the summer of 1999.

Singh won four times last year, captured the PGA Tour money title to end Woods' four years of domination, and nearly beat him out for PGA Tour player of the year.

Nothing changed with the new year. He won at Pebble Beach for his 12th consecutive finish in the top 10, and the gap between No. 1 and No. 2 in the world ranking has never been this close - 3.35 points - in the two years since the system was revamped more than two years ago.

Still, even when Woods isn't at his best, he's still better than most.

And Singh understands that the only way to make up ground is in the majors. The Masters would be an excellent place to start, and Singh already has a locker in the Champions Room at Augusta National to prove he can do it.

"This is, to me, the hardest test of golf we play," said the hardest-working man in golf. "It requires the whole package. You can't come here with one part of the game missing. You're just not going to function.

"For some reason, when I come into the gates, my game just lifts another level. Hopefully, I just maintain that for the whole week."

Singh's father won't be the only company he keeps at Augusta National.

While Woods is a three-time Masters champion and the favorite to join Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer as the only guys with at least four green jackets, there are plenty of players on top of their games.

Phil Mickelson might be the steadiest this year. He won the Bob Hope Classic, and has finished out of the top 10 only once this year. Mickelson is No. 1 on the money list for the first time in six years.

Ernie Els won in Hawaii and Australia, and his victory at Royal Melbourne in the Heineken Classic was particularly noteworthy because the course is often compared to Augusta National.

Mike Weir, the defending champion at the Masters, already has defended one title this year at Riviera.

Asked who might be the player to beat this year, Singh suggested someone with a swing that looks a lot like Woods'. That would be Adam Scott, who is coming off a strong victory two weeks ago in The Players Championship.

"He's hitting the ball incredibly well," Singh said. "He's one guy that stands out in my mind."

Woods is never too far away.

To get an appreciation of the standard Woods faces - which is unlike any other player - consider the hype surrounding him at this Masters.

He's the betting favorite, yet everyone wants to know what's wrong with his game.

Woods has won eight majors, but the focus is on the fact he has gone six straight majors without winning one.

"It's different for me versus any other player," Woods said Tuesday. "Some other player has a bad week, misses the cut, it's no big deal, he slips through the radar. Whereas, if I shoot one bad round, it's a little different."

But this is no surprise.

"It's the only thing I've ever known since I've been out here," Woods said. "I was compared to Nicklaus when I first came out here, and now I'm being compared to what I did in 2000, 1999 and 2001."

It was during that time that Woods made history just about every time he played. He won nine times and $9 million in 2000, the centerpiece of a stretch when he won five out of six majors.

Expectations have taken on a new meaning.

"The people out there, spectators, if they don't see Tiger in the top five making a charge on Sunday afternoon, there's something wrong with him," Ernie Els said.

But even Woods concedes that his swing is not the same as it was in 2000, and there are inconsistencies in his game that he is trying to solve.

One week, he drove the ball to all corners of the golf course and was spared by good iron play. The next week, he found the fairways, but could never get it close to the hole.

He hits the ball great on the practice range. There are moments of doubt on the first tee.

"It's not easy to trust your swing if your mechanics are not quite sound," Woods said. "That's one of the things that I've been trying to work on, trying to get my fundamentals of my golf swing more sound so I can go out there and don't have to think anything except for the shot I want to hit."

Augusta National should be a good place to find some answers.