Woods draws crowd for Masters practice

Luke Sheehan

Woods draws crowd for Masters practice image

Tiger Woods has drawn a crowd yet again, the 14-time major winner flanked by Augusta patrons for his Masters practice round on Monday.

The world number 111 tuned up for the year's first major alongside Mark O'Meara, teeing off at 16:20 local time (20:20 GMT).

Woods, a four-time Masters champion, and O'Meara - the 1998 green jacket winner - attracted an estimated crowd of over 2,000 people, but there was little doubt who they were there to see.

The 39-year-old practised his chipping, the aspect of his game he is struggling with most.

Woods is fronting up at The Masters after taking an indefinite break from competition, given his two disastrous outings in 2015.

He missed the cut at the Phoenix Open after shooting a career-worst round of 82, before he lasted 11 holes at the Farmers Insurance Open later in February when he withdrew due to his persistent back issue.

US Open champion Martin Kaymer said Woods needed to be kept out of the limelight in order to get his game back to its best.

"I hope he's happy. I hope he's fine," Kaymer said.

"I hope he will play well this week. But what would bother me a lot is all the speculation. You don't have a choice. You will read about it somewhere. You will hear about it because you socialise with people. So mentally, it must be quite exhausting, and we know how important the mental part is in golf.

"So it's difficult, and some things I don't find very fair. You should just let him be. Let him play golf, what he likes to do."

The 2,000-plus crowd that flocked to see Woods on Monday, clearly, do not agree.

Luke Sheehan