Tiger Woods has warned Ernie Els he will not give up his world No. 1 ranking lightly as the South African continues his pursuit of the top spot at the Dubai Desert Classic this week.
Els last year outlined a three-year plan to surpass Woods in the world rankings by 2010 and gave a promising display in the final round of the Commercialbank Qatar Masters last week, finishing third.
It was all the more impressive considering it was the first tournament for "the Big Easy" since winning the South African Open in December.
As well as the incentive of ranking points, Els will be looking to gain revenge on Woods after he lost out in a playoff to the 12-time major winner at the Emirates Golf Club last year.
But Woods kept his message for the world No. 4 simple.
"Keep improving because I am going to do the same," Woods said. "I feel good. I certainly feel good about where I am heading with the understanding I have of my game and the swing.
"I just feel very excited about the future of improving and getting better."
Woods arrives in Dubai in fine form after securing his seventh successive PGA Tour victory at the Buick Invitational on Sunday, recovering from a two-stroke deficit to win the San Diego event.
In part because of the streak, Woods has not finished worse than second since the Western Open in July last year. Only one other golfer has enjoyed a better run with Byron Nelson having won 11 consecutive tournaments in 1945.
Woods believes the key to his amazing form is that he does not concern himself with anyone else until the final day of a tournament.
"I worry about myself first," he said. "I see where I stack up going into Sunday and then you start looking around at what is going on.
"But there are 72 holes and I have a lot of things to take care of before I start thinking about anybody else."
Meanwhile, Els is relishing getting back out on the course he has enjoyed much success on over the years.
The 37-year-old has won the Desert Classic three times - in 1994, 2002 and 2005 - and he is keen to make up for last year's disappointment with an unprecedented fourth victory.
"I just enjoy it," he said. "Some places and some golf courses just seem right. I have always felt comfortable here. It is at a time in the season where I feel like I want to play.
"I am fresh and feel like I want to have a good start to the year and maybe that is something to do with my performance so far.
Els will be playing in the same field with Woods for the first time since August, when the South African placed a disappointing 31st at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational.
"Hopefully my game is good enough where I can challenge guys like Tiger and the rest of the field by Sunday afternoon," Els said. "Obviously last year I came very, very close to winning here. Going for second shot on the playoff maybe wasn't the best decision but if it had come off it would have been fine.
"Tiger is coming with a lot of form and the way he has played over the last couple of years, every week he is the man to try and beat."
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