GOLF/US Masters: Maybe, just maybe, this is as good as it gets. In fact, there's almost a gladiatorial feel - without the blood and gore, of course - to this latest edition of the US Masters, with a new era of golfing superstars, players who can rival anything that the past produced, ready for this next instalment in following their destiny to greatness.

Who'll it be? Vijay? Tiger? Ernie? Phil, again? Retief? An interloper? Whoever, whenever, it promises to be great theatre.

These so-called "Big Five" of Singh, Woods, Els, Mickelson and Goosen have galloped ahead of all others in the world rankings, the gap between this quintet and Padraig Harrington, who leads the chase, equating to the points difference that currently lies between sixth and 19th.

To be sure, these guys are good! History, too, is on their side. Of the last five Masters tournaments, they have won four of them - Singh in 2000, Woods in 2001 and 2002, and Mickelson a year ago - and this course suits each and every one of them.

In 2002, for instance, the Big Five finished 1-2-3-5-7. How about that? And, for good measure, current number six Harrington and number seven Sergio Garcia were also in the mix. Harrington finished tied-fifth, Garcia eighth.

That was then, this is now. If anything, these players, as a group, are now playing even better.

"Vijay, Tiger, Ernie, Phil and Retief - those five guys have tremendous potential, and they very well might prove to be better than all of us," remarked Gary Player, a giant of another era.

Such comparisons with the past will always leave unanswered questions, given the changes in equipment, but the current rivalry is certainly a healthy one for golf.

What they all know how to do is win. Mickelson's victory in the BellSouth was his third of the season on the US Tour; Woods has won twice, and Singh once.

Els has won twice this year on the European Tour. Add Harrington - one of three Irish players, along with Darren Clarke and Graeme McDowell in the 93-man field - into the mix and it gets even tastier.

Yet, you won't find contenders observing each other.

As Harrington observed, "I don't worry about my opposition, it's neither here nor there to me (what they do). I've got to do my own thing. You've got to do your own thing and not put these guys on a pedestal. You don't hope that they do badly, that doesn't work either.

"You've just got to play your own game, and that's it. If you win this tournament and the top five guys haven't played well this week, well, the guy who wins it isn't going to worry about that.

"He's not going to worry that he beat Tiger Woods in a head-to-head going down 18 or he beat the lowest ranked player in the field. He's just going to be happy that he won."

Woods has a similar mindset. "I'm only worried about getting my own ball into the hole," he said. And, indeed, that is the bottom line.

Whoever gets the ball into the hole in the fewest number over the four rounds will win out. That's what Phil Mickelson did a year ago. Mickelson finally got a monkey off his back here when he won his first major. It was his 43rd professional appearance in a major, and "Lefty" had a back-nine duel in the final round with Els before birdieing the 18th for a one-stroke win.

Now, he will attempt to become the first player since Sandy Lyle in 1988 to follow-up a regular tournament win by winning the Masters. "It's something that doesn't happen that often, I guess," said Mickelson.

"Personally, I look on it as a great way to build some momentum, to take the intensity and the focus that I had to have on the back nine in Atlanta to get in the play-off and take that into the opening round."

Can Mickelson become just the fourth player in history to retain the Masters? Jack Nicklaus in 1965, Nick Faldo in 1990 and Woods in 2002 are the only players to have achieved the feat. His game plan is to be aggressive in that quest.

"I probably don't ever swing harder throughout the year than I do here at Augusta because it is a very long course," he said. "It is such an advantage to have shorter irons into these greens."

The weather forecast could play even more into the hands of the top players. All week, they've practised in glorious sunshine on a course - and greens - that has got faster and firmer. The forecast, though, is for severe thunderstorms today that will likely make the course play even longer, although possibly taking some sting out of the greens. It could become a bomber's course more than ever.

While it is virtually impossible to pick one of the so-called Big Five over another in terms of favouritism, this Masters also represents - numerically at least - the possibility of a European player ending a major drought that dates back to Paul Lawrie's win in the British Open in 1999. There are 20 Europeans in the field, headed of course by Harrington.

One thing is different this time from any of Harrington's previous visits to Augusta. He is here as a winner on the US Tour, following his win in the Honda Classic last month.

"It might give me confidence to the extent that I've been saying that I have to be patient and wait and wait . . . and that was one occasion that, you known, it paid off. A little bit of patience, so there is confidence based on that. It doesn't do any harm."

By Sunday, though, destiny will have called only one player to be fitted with a green jacket by Mickelson. Could he be putting it on himself? Only time will tell.

One thing is certain, however, and that is that this Masters has the potential to be a real classic affair.

And the number of gladiators, most definitely, extends beyond the Big Five.

Masters TVCoverage

RTE 2: 8.30 - 11.25

BBC 2: 9.00 - 10.30

BBC 1: 10.35 - 12.00