Tiger Woods

Tiger leaves the tee

Tiger Woods leaves the 9th green after his birdie. Woods hit a spectacular fairway shot from behind some trees to land it close to the pin and sank his birdie. Woods shot 68 on the first round to be tied for seventh place at four under par.
By Michael Madrid, USA TODAY


Tiger Woods returned to competitive golf Thursday at the Masters after a five-month hiatus, and both his game and the reception from the crowd made it seem like old times.

Woods shot 4-under 68 in the first round, his best first round of golf ever at the Masters, and the crowds all around.

Fans applauded Woods as he made the walk from the practice range to the first tee, and greeted him warmly at the tee. "Make us proud!" one yelled.

It was much the same reaction on every other hole. Galleries that were one or two deep 20 minutes earlier swelled to mob scenes when Woods and his group arrived. No sooner did he finish one hole than a sea of people was on the move, eager to get in position on the next one.

They applauded his good shots, groaned at the bad ones and shouted encouraging cheers.

"It was unbelievable," Woods said. "I mean, all day. I haven't heard them cheer this loud in all my years here."