Okay so every weekend is a great sporting weekend, but this one tops the lot.

We’ll start with the football where it promises to be a season-defining few days. The race for promotion from the Championship, League One and League Two hots up with games on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday. The picture at the top of every division will be clearer after the next few days. Including in the Premier League where Manchester United will attempt to take another step towards the title with victory over QPR on Sunday. City meanwhile, face a daunting trip to in-form Arsenal. News of dressing room fights, infidelity and car crashes have done little to ease the pressure on Mancini this week (yes, they were all Balotelli!).

From English football we head to Georgia in the USA for the first golf major of the year: the Masters. And this one beats them all. Not only is it the greatest golf tournament in the world, it is, in my opinion, the greatest single sporting event of the year. It is special and unique. You turn left off the main road and drive the 300 yards or so down Magnolia Lane towards the Augusta National Golf Club; a little pocket of Heaven; God’s holiday home. The clubhouse is spectacular, the Founder’s Circle is amazing and the Crow’s Nest is like nothing else. The scenery is stunning; every blade of grass cut to perfection, every corner of the course adorned with flowers and shrubs of every imaginable colour. It is effortlessly breath-taking. Every hole is a natural amphitheatre. It is, quite simply, sporting paradise. And all that is before a club has been swung.

Suffice to say I rather like the Masters. But this year’s tournament might just be the greatest of them all.

Let’s start with a certain Mr Woods. The Tiger’s got his swagger back. His win at Bay Hill and his final round 62 at the Honda Classic made the golfing world – if they weren’t doing so already – sit up and take notice. He’s in form, he’s injury free and he loves this golf course. The four green jackets hanging in his wardrobe earn him the title of ‘course specialist’. Nobody in the field this week has won more times round here (only Jack Nicklaus has with six). People may say that’s irrelevant given the fact that he hasn’t won here since 2005. But since then his lowest finish at Augusta was a sixth place in 2009. Tiger is sure to be there or thereabouts come Sunday afternoon.

That final round at the Honda Classic gave golf fans a glimpse of what they have waited so long to see: Tiger v Rory. McIlroy won the tournament that week and, truth be told, Woods was never really close enough to ruffle the Northern Irishman’s feathers. But it whetted the appetite for the two to go head-to-head on the biggest stage of them all. Though not equipped with Woods’ experience, McIlroy is no novice round Augusta. His opening three rounds last year showed he has the game to win here. His final round 80 cost him the tournament, but gave him extra impetus to win this time. His cruise to victory at last year’s US Open at Congressional – just two months on from his Masters meltdown – showed he is no ‘choker’. He’s got unfinished business with this course. A final day pairing that reads ‘Woods and McIlory’ would be too perfect even for Augusta. Wouldn’t it? Well let’s hope not, because with Woods 14 years McIlroy’s senior at 36, it could be one of the few times we get to see it.

It’s not just those two in the shake-up though. Phil Mickelson loves this course and would love to tie Woods’ tally of four green jackets. Luke Donald showed real fighting spirit by winning the Transitions Tournament and reclaiming the world number one ranking in process. The Englishman certainly has the short game skills required to feature at Augusta, as he did last year. I’d love to see Lee Westwood break his major duck, especially having come so close to Mickelson in 2010. Unfortunately I just don’t have the confidence in Lee’s putting, and, more importantly, I don’t think Lee has the confidence in his putting for that to happen this week. Adam Scott could well be prominent again. The Aussie was runner-up here twelve months ago and in Steve Williams he has a caddy who knows this course as well as any player. The New Zealander was on the bag for every one of Tiger’s victories.

Finally, if all that isn’t enough, we have the Boat Race on Saturday. Like the Grand National, it’s a British staple. I’m no rowing aficionado but it provides a moment of jollity in my house, as it gives my Dad the chance to do the joke about the same two teams reaching the final every year!

Happy viewing.