AUGUSTA, Georgia (AP):

THEY WERE the two dominant figures in golf, one of them inspiring adulation from his adoring army of fans, the other evoking awe and appreciation for his sheer skill and display of power.

The green jacket fits both well.

Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus defined the Masters for the better part of a decade, trading green jackets during a five-year stretch in the 1960s rarely going head to head on the back nine of Augusta National.

Now, only the names seem to have changed.

Both comfortable

Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson have won five of the last six Masters, and there is little evidence to suggest the 71st Masters will be any different when it starts tomorrow.

"We both feel comfortable on the golf course," Woods said. "We both have decent short games, and that golf course is one of the very few golf courses where we can utilise our imagination and creativity. I think once you understand how to play it, and you can build your misses into some short-game situations, you start seeing the same guys up there at the top of the board."

But not since 2001 have Woods and Mickelson put their names atop the leaderboard at the same Masters.

Mickelson won his first Masters - and first major - in 2004 after a spirited duel with Ernie Els on the back nine, while Woods had long cleaned out his locker and wound up 11 shots behind. Woods outlasted Chris DiMarco in a playoff in 2005, while Mickelson was nine shots behind and spent his final round discussing metal spikes with Vijay Singh.

It looked close last year, but only on paper.

Mickelson was threatened only briefly on the back nine by Fred Couples to win by two shots. Woods hung around, only to miss several putts inside 12 feet that kept him from any kind of charge. He finished in a tie for third, three shots behind.

"Phil now has got more majors," Nicklaus said earlier this year. "He's figured out how to win. He's closing the gap."

Woods-Mickelson rivalry

Palmer wasn't sure what to make of the Woods-Mickelson rivalry, but he remembered plenty from his days of swapping green jackets with Nicklaus - Palmer won in 1962 and 1964, Nicklaus in 1963, 1965 and 1966.

"I think it helps the game to have that kind of a rivalry," Palmer said. "The more we can talk about Phil and his golf and the challenge to Tiger, I think that's good. They have different approaches. Tiger has his approach and obviously, it's quite good. Phil has his approach and he's been pretty successful and just recently started winning majors.

"The competition is what it's all about," Palmer added, with one caveat. "I don't see Tiger backing off for a while."

Mickelson played a practice round at Augusta National last week and shot 65, despite missing birdie putts inside 15 feet on the final three holes. Then he stopped for lunch and dropped a 31 over nine holes in the afternoon.

A victory would allow him to join Woods, Nicklaus and Nick Faldo as the only repeat champions, and Nicklaus is the only other player to have won three Masters in a four-year stretch.

"It's cool being among the two-win club. It would be great to add a third," Mickelson said. "Everybody wants to win that tournament."