AUGUSTA (Georgia), April 8: Ernie Els believes he is fully recovered from his wrist injury and ready to renew his rivalry with world number one Tiger Woods when the U.S. Masters tees off on Thursday.

After launching his season in blistering fashion with four titles in his first seven starts, the big South African was sidelined for two weeks after injuring his right wrist working out on the punching bag at his London home.

But following a late afternoon practice session on a soggy driving range at Augusta National on Monday, a relaxed Els predicted he would have no problem rediscovering his form.

“I’ve come in here before without any form and played really well,” the world number two told Reuters.

“When Thursday morning comes, everything comes back. I’ve been working hard, I’ll be ready by Thursday.”

Finding his form is likely to prove easier than getting back the supreme confidence needed to take on Woods, who arrives at Augusta chasing an unprecedented third consecutive Masters green jacket.

Despite having injured his wrist, Els entered the Bay Hill Invitational three weeks ago for what was the first head-to-head of the season between the world’s top two players.

Trailing Woods by four shots after 36 holes, Els closed with 72 and 77 in the final two rounds to finish 19 strokes adrift of the winner.

The collapse convinced Els to pull out of The Players Championship (TPC) the following week and give the damaged wrist a rest.

“I wasn’t too sure how long it was going to take, that’s why I played Bay Hill,” said Els, who took his family for a holiday in the Bahamas before arriving in Augusta.

“I thought by the time Bay Hill came around my wrist was going to be better but I guess the injury was a little worse than I thought. I just didn’t give it enough time.

“This is a part of the body that takes time to heal, there’s not a lot of blood going through,” said Els.

“Nothing was broken, no hairline fractures, just a bad strain. I just decided not to play the TPC.

“I felt the way I was swinging at Bay Hill I couldn’t hit the ball the way I wanted to hit it and in a big tournament like the TPC I didn’t want to lose more confidence.

“It’s all about confidence now.”

Els’s confidence will be boosted by some consistently strong performances on Augusta’s par-72 layout, including top-six finishes in his last three starts.

Woods, who won three times in five events after he delayed his start to the season to recover from minor knee surgery, will also be oozing confidence when he tees it up on Thursday, having lifted the coveted title twice and finished fifth over the same three-year stretch.—Reuters