Masters champion Tiger Woods of the United States speaks to members of the media in a pre-event press conference during practice round 2 at Augusta National Golf Club, Tuesday, April 4, 2023.

Tiger Woods does not sound like a man with an affinity for TS Eliot, but when it comes to circularity and the spiritual journey, his willingness to speak ex-cathedra is now one of the hallmarks of his press briefings.

While he pointed to his stubbornness as the key to his ability to overcome adversity and win a fifth Masters title in 2019, then come back from devastating injuries to make the cut 14 months after that horrific car crash, the five-time champion appears closer than ever to becoming a man who is finally at peace with the world.

"In my end is my beginning," Eliot wrote, but while Woods may not be finished yet in terms of winning Majors, he is comfortable being the great sage to a string of acolytes with Rory McIlroy an attentive listener at the feet of the master.

In saying, "It's just a matter of time" before McIlroy wins at Augusta National and completes the career grand slam, Woods is clearly becoming a critical addition to McIlroy's support network.

The greats love to be asked how they worked their magic and Woods is so comfortable in his powers he is unafraid to hand out the pearls of wisdom, even if it might suggest the young guns no longer see him as a threat.

"Well, I don't know if -- threat or not, I just think it's understanding, picking some guys' brains and figuring out what they need to do to win this tournament," Woods said.

"Hey, I was lucky enough to have played with Freddie (Couples) and Raymond (Floyd) my first year and Seve and Ollie. That was incredible. And then Jack and Arnold, the Par 3 Contest with those guys.

"That's what this tournament allows us to do is pass on knowledge and gain knowledge from the past and apply it. Whether I'm a threat to them or not, who knows. People probably didn't think I was a threat in 2019 either but it kind of turned out okay."

He was beaming visibly when asked what he learned from those practice rounds as a young turk looking to win his first Major and it's clear that despite his obvious physical limitations, he believes he can win another Masters, or at least another Major, as predicted by Pádraig Harrington.

Accumulated knowledge is now his strongest weapon and while McIlroy will have played 90 holes of practice here since turning up for his first practice round a few weeks ago, Woods knows the course so intimately that he can recreate the shots he needs to hit while lying awake at night.

Asked how he could possibly hope to compete this week having played only four rounds in the Genesis Invitational at Riviera in February, he was revealing.

"A lot of it has been understanding the golf course, and I know the golf course," he said. "So I've been able to recreate a lot of the chip shots at home in my backyard or I'm at Medalist hitting balls off the side of lies, trying to simulate shots and rehearsing, again and again, each and every flag location, each and every shot I would possibly hit.

"I've gone through so many different scenarios in my head. You know I don't sleep very well, so going through it and rummaging through the data bank and how to hit shots from each and every place and rehearsing it; that's the only way that I can compete here. I don't have the physical tournaments under my belt.

"You look at what -- Bernhard is still able to compete here, Fred is still able to compete here. They're older guys who understand how to play this particular golf course. It helps. And hopefully it will help me this week."

Augusta National reveres tradition in helping McIlroy, Woods is not giving away the keys to the kingdom as a man who can no longer compete, but paying it forward as the greats of the past did with him.

While he would address the hot topics of the day, such as reiterating his support for a ball rollback and his hope that his Genesis Invitational and possibly the Memorial will continue to have a cut even if the other designated events become no-cut events, he was more interesting on the nuts and bolts of playing the great game.

Recounting how four-time Major winner and 1976 Masters champion Ray Floyd told him how to play to a back left pin at the par-five second, where the gallery ropes are situated just yards from the landing area, he positively beamed with joy.

"Raymond, what do you hit to this back left pin?" he recalled. "Well, you hit it right over at them, and then right before it lands, you yell 'fore.'"

Floyd showed him how to play an array of chips with four-irons and eight-irons, while Ballesteros and Olazabal also imparted priceless tips.

"I mean, it gives me chills just thinking about that because that is invaluable knowledge and is one of the reasons why I was able to win here early, but also, then again, was why I've had short-game success over my career because I was able to pick those guys' brains early in my career and then apply," he said.

What nuggets McIlroy recalls in years to come will be interesting to hear, but Woods may yet turn out to be a valuable consigliere, all the while plotting a way to upstage them all again and win a 16th Major title.