Tiger Woods was put in the next-to-last group for the opening round of the Masters Thursday, timed perfectly for the live TV coverage restricted to afternoons. So while thousands of fans follow Woods around Augusta National, millions more around the world will be able to watch when he makes his official return to golf since his private life unraveled in sordid tales of infidelity five months ago. Also teeing off with Woods at 1342 GMT will be K.J. Choi of South Korea and Matt Kuchar of the United States. “It's funny, because I sort of had a feeling when I left Dallas that it would be cool if I was paired with Tiger, and it happened,” Choi said when he walked off the 18th green Tuesday. “I like playing with big crowds.” Massive crowds again chased after Woods and Mark O'Meara Tuesday during a morning practice round, which appeared to be routine until Woods crouched on the 10th green and pulled out his cell phone. It looked bad, and not just because Augusta National asks players not to take phones onto the course. Only three weeks ago, an adult star who claims to have had a three-year affair with Woods released what she said were text messages from Woods on her website. But it turned out that Woods was using his phone to videotape O'Meara at work. “He was helping me with my putting,” he said. “I had a loop in my putting stroke. He wanted to film my putting stroke.” Woods did not speak Tuesday, yet he remains very much the center of attention at this Masters. The first big hurdle was going public - playing golf before fans and speaking to the media for the first time since Nov. 15. The next big test comes Thursday, when he starts keeping score. Woods twice has gone nine weeks without competition before a major championship - the 2006 US Open after his father died and the 2008 US Open after knee surgery - but he has never come to Augusta National without any type of a tuneup. Few other golf courses require so much precision, even more when it's hot and dry as it has been all week. “It's a very stressful course to play when you're in a major championship,” British Open champion Stewart Cink said. “It's a really difficult test, and it comes at you with every shot. If your game is up to it, and your mentality is up to it, then you can succeed and you can play well and have some confidence. “But if you are wavering in any way, the course just identifies that and it just spits you out.” Showing up cold at a major without competition has yielded mixed results for Woods. He missed the cut in the 2006 US Open at Winged Foot, and won the 2008 US Open at Torrey Pines on a shredded knee that required season-ending surgery a week later. Winged Foot is not the best course for Woods. Torrey Pines is like his own playground. Augusta National, which has changed dramatically since his second straight green jacket in 2002, is somewhere in between. “I don't think anybody expected him to play well in the 2008 US Open,” Phil Mickelson said. “I don't think anybody out here will question his ability to perform at the highest level, even though he has not competed in however many months. So I think from a player's point of view, we expect to see the same player that we have always seen.” This break is more emotional than physical, however. Woods went 15 weeks from winning in Australia to getting back into a practice routine. He endured a humiliating December as his extramarital affairs were exposed, and he spent most of January and February in therapy. He skipped a tune-up at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, saying he wasn't ready. It's not the best way to prepare for the Masters. “You have to remember that Tiger ... has a good ability to bring his game from the practice round to the golf course,” three-time major winner Padraig Harrington said.
