Tiger's return doesn't get off to smooth start
It was as awkward as a first high school dance.
Tiger Woods arrived at Augusta National Golf Club's new practice tee at 1:39 p.m. Sunday. He offered a quick quip to a couple of veteran writers. He shook hands and spoke briefly with Paul Casey and his caddie, Christian Donald.
Then Woods stepped to a vacant spot on the range and simply stood there. A couple of minutes passed and it seemed like nobody knew quite what to do.
Woods -- wearing sunglasses, as was caddie Steve Williams, as if to remain incognito -- appeared unsure of himself. So did his peers. Who should make the first move? He was -- as Stewart Cink described him a few weeks ago -- the giant elephant in the room.
Eventually Woods warmed up with a few practice shots. He hugged Jim Furyk on the range-side putting green. Then he made his way toward the course -- where no cameras are allowed Sunday, as the course is still a private club open only to the membership and guests.
Serendipity struck shortly after 2 p.m. While Woods was practicing some putts waiting for the first tee to clear, his oldest PGA Tour mentor made the turn to the 10th tee. Woods stepped over the ropes and greeted Mark O'Meara with a prolonged bear hug.
"That's the first time I've seen him since the British Open," O'Meara said later. "So it was nice to see my friend."
O'Meara invited Woods to play the back nine. Yet even that brought a little discomfort, as a gaggle of reporters crowded behind the tee along with the three armed security officers and a handful of other plainclothes security men and club officials.
"Maybe a little bit," O'Meara admitted of the awkwardness of their reunion.
O'Meara hit before Woods, yanking his drive into the trees before striping a mulligan.
"Gagged on my first one," O'Meara said as he walked off the tee. "Not used to playing with this kid."
Woods blocked his 3-wood well right of the center line. Like O'Meara, he violated the club's policy of not hitting mulligans and carved a perfect drive around the dogleg.
Swing coach Hank Haney slapped him on the back and they walked off into the solitude of the private course. It will be his last peaceful turn through Amen Corner this week.
Today will bring the swarm of public scrutiny that Woods has been hiding from for more than four months, since the accident outside his home brought a world of scandal and hurt down on the golfer we once knew.
Or thought we knew.
"In life, no one's perfect," O'Meara said. "We thought he was, but no one's perfect."
Woods' private affairs have been exposed in a spectacular fall from grace. This morning, Woods will be in front of the public that once held him in awe, playing a practice round with Fred Couples. At 2 p.m., he will sit down for his first full-blown news conference.
It marks the first time in the history of the Masters that admission to the interview room requires a ticket.
If Woods seemed a little nervous and out of sorts Sunday, imagine what today will bring. Will he be applauded or hear boos? Will he be welcomed or scorned?
Nobody knows. But O'Meara said he believes Woods is in a better place now than the limbo he's been living in since Thanksgiving.
"I told him out there that this is where he belongs -- on the golf course," O'Meara said. "He's done a lot of good for the game. The personal side of it, obviously not so good. But he realizes that and is trying to turn himself around."
Many concede that the Masters offers a certain amount of cushion from what might await Woods at a regular tour event with a gallery composed of the general public. But it's open to question whether Woods can compete at a major while carrying more baggage than any caddie. He's practiced at Augusta National more often in advance of the Masters than he ever has before, making at least a pair of two-day trips to the club in the past two weeks.
Even though he saw him for only nine holes, O'Meara thinks Woods is ready.
"He's going to be fine," O'Meara said. "He's one of the toughest guys mentally I've ever met. I think he'll do well this week. He's won here like four or five times.
"If anybody can handle pressure, he's done a pretty good job. Forget what happened the last four or five months; the last 10 to 12 years he's been the most scrutinized golfer there ever was. With that comes a lot of responsibility, and he dropped the ball a little bit."
Now Woods is trying to pick it back up and run with it to a place he's more comfortable. For a man who has been the model of supreme confidence, Sunday's calm before the storm was a shaky start.
Reach Scott Michaux at (706) 823-3219 or scott.michaux@augustachronicle.com.
