Seve Benson has never seen so many people on a golf course. Some 10,000 fans lined both sides of the 10th fairway Thursday morning as the sun was still climbing over Melbourne.
Never mind that they didn't come to watch him.
Tiger Woods, who teed off behind the 23-year-old Englishman, made the Australian Masters feel like the one at Augusta National. Tournament officials said 21,356 people came through the turnstiles, an enormous crowd for the size of this golf course. Most of them scooped up tickets months ago after learning the world's No. 1 golfer would compete Down Under for the first time in 11 years.
Woods delivered a performance that matched the hype, even if it fell slightly short of his own standards.
Despite a few loose shots with short irons and spending most of the round lag putting on greens that were softer than he expected, Woods had a birdie chance on every hole except his last, easily handled the par 5s, nearly drove one of the par 4s and wound up in a three-way tie for the lead at 6-under 66.
He was tied with Branden Grace of South Africa and James Nitties, an Australian who easily kept his PGA Tour card after his rookie season in America. Nitties gets extra credit for his 66 because he had to play behind Woods.
Most players in the group behind Woods have to cope with the media. Nitties couldn't see them through a wall of fans who were allowed to stand in the crossing areas as Woods putted. The way the fans surrounded each green, nine-deep behind the green and four-deep in front, it made every hole look like the 72nd hole at the British Open.
Not everyone could watch every shot, so thousands lined the fairways two holes in advance to wait on Woods. Once he played through, most of them waited for a few more groups -- Geoff Ogilvy was two groups behind -- to plot their next move.
That gave players on either side of Woods a chance to share the buzz.
"It was amazing," said Benson, a European Tour rookie who opened with a 70 and needs a big week to keep his card. "After a couple of holes, you get used to it. But then you realize that they were not on the hole before. They had been waiting awhile."
