Tiger Woods emerged from a traffic jam of his own making to thrill thousands of fans with a six-under 66 at the A$1.5 million ($1.4 million) Australian Masters on Thursday.
Chasing a maiden Australian title in his first trip Down Under for 11 years, Woods was caught in one of the long traffic jams surrounding Melbourne’s Kingston Heath Golf Club before his 7:30 a.m. tee-off.
Once on the course, the American world number one brushed off the pressure of galleries packed six-deep on every hole and delivered a master class for local fans during his seven-birdie, one-bogey round.
“I think they did great today,” Woods told reporters, referring to the legions of spectators that greeted his birdies with raucous cheers but proved otherwise hushed and reverential.
“I think the people were extremely respectful. They were actually trying to police themselves which is great, because you don’t find that very often.”
Woods, whose appearance is expected to attract a sell-out crowd of 100,000, professed his love for Melbourne’s sandbelt courses before the tournament and renewed his vows with some splendid shot-making at Kingston Heath.
