There are many glaringly obvious reasons why this Masters has already become the Tiger Masters even before a tee shot has been struck.
1) Even by Woods' standards, it is a truly remarkable comeback just to be able to take part in his 88th Major.
2) He is the greatest male golfer of all time.
3) He is one of the greatest sportsmen or sportswomen of all time.
4) He is a flawed genius and we all love a flawed genius.
But perhaps most striking of all …
5) There has been no-one who has stepped up to fill the global icon-shaped void left by his absences.
The sport of professional golf - and its participants at the elite level - might well be in extremely rude health but when Tiger is not around, where is the poster athlete? The billboard hero?
Where is the golfer who could possibly rival Tiger for airtime, column inches and bar-room debate? In 2014, we thought we had one, nailed on.
Rory McIlroy, already a two-time Major winner and only just turning 25, finished eighth at Augusta, 23rd in the US Open at Pinehurst, won The Open at Royal Liverpool and followed it up with victory at the US PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club in Kentucky, a course designed by Jack Nicklaus.
And this is what Nicklaus had to say about McIlroy after that triumph: “Rory is an unbelievable talent. I think Rory has an opportunity to win 15 or 20 Majors or whatever he wants to do if he wants to keep playing.”
And since then? None, a tied-second finish in the 2018 Open at Carnoustie the closest he has come to a fifth Major. Of course, he has won plenty of other tournaments during that time and, in terms of golfing income - prize money and commercial deals - probably only has, over the last decade, Tiger ahead of him, albeit by some distance.
The debate about whether the riches that quickly came his way lessened his thirst for Major success has long gone on. And perhaps he has not had the extraordinary single-mindedness that Woods has demonstrated over the past three decades and that brings him back to Augusta this year.
Have Your Say! Can McIlroy step out of Woods' shadow? Join the debate here.
But it is not too late. It will certainly not be the 15 or 20 that Nicklaus - the all-time Major winner with 18 - predicted. But such is the prodigious talent of McIlroy that he still has the ability to dominate a Major field.
And while players under 30 dominate the top of golf’s world rankings, McIlroy is still at a prime age. Phil Mickelson has six Major wins to his name and ALL of them came after he turned 33.
And if he plays to his potential, this Masters tournament could be the one to kick-start another McIlroy run at the Majors. It could be the one that stops the golfing world, partially at least, talking only about Tiger.
