AUGUSTA, Ga. – The only sound between the Hole 8 green and Hole 9 tee box was the rustle of pine needles and scurrying of shoes across freshly manicured grass during an overcast Tuesday morning at Augusta National Golf Club.
Golf fans from far and wide were moving as fast as they can – no running at the Masters – to get just the right spot by the ninth tee box to await the threesome that captivated the entire day, led by five-time Masters champion Tiger Woods.
Woods’ presence is everywhere. Fans wear sweaters with a tiger swinging a club, don his famous “Sunday Red” outfit from head to toe, and there are likely hundreds of conversations about him leading into the week.
As he made his multiple practice putts and chips from the eighth green and started walking toward the ninth tee, the sounds switched to whispered excitement.
“There he is, there he is,” said virtually everyone, no matter if they were talking to family, friends or a stranger.
Someone bold enough to speak over the murmurs shouted, “C’mon now Tiger!” which led to whistles and cheers. Justin Thomas, a close friend of Woods, was in the group with him for the nine holes of the day, while 1992 Masters winner and fan-favorite Fred Couples – “Boom Boom” as he is affectionately known – joined as well.
As everyone picks the club they want to use on Hole 9 — the par-4, 460-yard hole that heads downhill with a narrow opening to its fairway with trees on either side – everyone who has been following Woods, and those who realized he was on the tee, picked their spot to stand and watched as he teed off. It was the final tee shot he would hit on a day when fans saw confident play from the golfer everyone wants to see make the cut this week.
“There’s a little bit,” Kent Halder from Iowa told Fox News Digital when asked if he noticed a limp from Woods earlier in the practice round, “but boy is he in shape. He’s buff. He still looks like a defensive back [in the NFL], no doubt about it.”
Tuesday’s practice round provided hope for those fans crossing their fingers, or praying at “Amen Corner,” that Woods can work some more magic at a course he’s created countless memories at for almost three decades.
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