Tiger Woods has been preparing for the upcoming Masters alongside rival Phil Mickelson this week with both partaking in their first practice round at Augusta.

The former will feature in his first Masters tournament since 2015 after recovering from spinal fusion surgery and will be hoping to add to his four winners medals.

Woods will be aiming to get back to his best this week and if his practice display is anything to go by, he could be on course to do just that.

His performance was so good, it even prompted Fred Couples to throw praise his way.

The 58-year-old won the Masters back in 1992 and will be making his 33rd start in the tournament this week.

Similarly to Woods, Couples’ career has been plagued with back problems, so he will be able to sympathise with his fellow countryman.

However, following on from the practice session, Couples said that Woods is ‘doing well’ and doesn’t feel his injury is interfering with his performance:

"He's doing well," the former Masters champion said via ESPN.

"If you watched him play today, there's not much of a back problem.

"He hit a few drives that were well worth watching, whether you paid for it or are in the tournament like me"

Couples was also full of praise for the four-time Masters winner, claiming his hits in the practice session were ‘beautiful’ and ‘awesome.’

“He's hitting it a long way, and it looks beautiful. Today wasn't any different than it was 10 years ago when we played. It was pretty awesome."

Woods has emerged as one of the favourites to take the crown on Sunday and it seems he could be in with a real chance if he maintains the performance shown in the practice round.

The Masters begins on April 5 and ends on April 8.