Fans greet Woods’ return with big ovation

The Associated Press

The first AUGUSTA, standing ovation came on the practice range.

There was more applause when he strolled to the 18th green, although most of the patrons stayed in their fold-out seats.

Tiger Woods is back at the Masters.

Just not in the position so many of his fans were hoping he would be.

Woods plodded through an unspectacular opening round Thursday, settling for a 1-overpar 73 that left him far off the lead but still feeling good about his chances.

Considering the buildup that accompanied his first competitive round at Augusta National Golf Club since 2015, it might have seemed like a bit of a letdown.

Not to Woods.

“I could have easily let the round slip away from me, but I got it back,” he said, brimming with that bravado of old. “And I’m right back in this tournament.”

When Woods stepped to the first tee on a sunny, brisk morning, the patrons finally heard the words they had missed out on at the previous two Masters:

“Fore, please. Tiger Woods now driving.”

The cheers could be heard throughout the course.

“I was pretty sure they weren’t feeling anticipation about me,” quipped Tommy Fleetwood, who joined Woods in a threesome that included Marc Leishman. “But, yeah, you could definitely feel it.”

Dressed in black from head to toe, Woods tried to approach his first shot Thursday like any other.

“Hit a little fade up the left side,” he thought.

The ball wound up in the trees left of the fairway.

“It didn’t fade,” Woods said with a sly grin.

He struggled on the par-5 holes, which usually are his bread and butter at Augusta, and that kept him from taking his score into negative numbers. But he wasn’t complaining. After all he has been through — the surgeries, the personal troubles, the lingering doubts that he would ever be able to compete again for major championships — just being out on the course, once again at the center of the golf universe, made him feel like a winner.

Two birdies over the final five holes helped his mood, too.

“A 73 is fine,” Woods said. “By the end of the week, this will be a pretty packed leaderboard the way the golf course is set up.”