Golfing great Jack Nicklaus has expressed surprise that Tiger Woods will break his five-month exile by going into next month's US Masters at Augusta without playing any warm-up events.

"I fully expected Tiger to come back to play the Masters and that will be good for Augusta," said Nicklaus.

"I am surprised he is not playing some place before that, but then Tiger is Tiger and he'll come back ready to play.

"Tiger's a phenomenal athlete but if I went to Augusta cold, I would not have been at my best," said Nicklaus, 70.

"If you remember the last time I won the Masters (1986), Seve (Ballesteros) went to that Masters not having played very much golf... Seve was not going to be as tough as he would be."

On Thursday, Nicklaus hosted a clinic at Dar Es Salam with 1985 European Ryder Cup-winning captain Tony Jacklin.

Their presence brought the range to a standstill with many competitors, including Irish players Damien McGrane, Darren Clarke and Gareth Maybin, breaking from their practice to pick up tips from the pair.

Nicklaus said he believed that his record of 18 Major triumphs would eventually be broken by Woods.

"Yes, I still expect Tiger to go past my record," he said.

"His chances of doing that are quite good - he has five more Majors to win to break my record."