The hysteria began as his plane touched down on the tarmac on Monday morning. The minute Tiger Woods emerged from his private jet and jumped into a waiting chauffer-driven car, cameramen hovering overhead in helicopters zoomed in and recorded his arrival, following the car down the highway as it headed towards a luxurious city hotel, the pictures beamed live to air on Australian TV.
In that moment, Tiger mania hit Melbourne. And by mid-week, when the World No1 golfer hit the course at Kingston Heath amid searing November temperatures, the rest of Australia had caught up.
Thousands of fans – including politicians and other famous golfing aficionados – gave the American champion a rapturous welcome to Australia for his second visit, but the first since he has become a genuine global sporting superstar.
Fans flocked to the Kingston Heath course before sunrise to watch his first practise round yesterday ahead of Thursday’s tee off for the European Tour co-sanctioned Australian Masters. Crowds at least eight deep returned again today, phones and cameras constantly at the ready to catch the billionaire in action. Helicopters buzzed overhead to record his every swing.
Woods, who was also feted to the point of distraction by over-zealous fans at the WGC-HSBC Champions tournament in Shanghai last week, admitted the attention he has received in Australia has been like nothing he has experienced before.
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“No, it’s not normal. Trust me, it’s not. Thank god, it’s not normal,” he said yesterday, when asked if the reception he had received in famously sports-loving Australia was par for the course.
“You don’t normally see this many people at a practice round certainly, maybe at a major championship you might see this many people.
“I’ve never experienced the helicopters before, they were overhead but they didn’t interfere with my play.”
Tournament organisers paid a reported $US3 million (£1.8 million) to lure the 14-time major winner to Melbourne, and the investment appears to have already paid huge dividends.
Huge galleries not seen since the heyday of local golfing idol Greg Norman in 1980s are expected to follow Woods this week and media interest has been intense, giving Australian golf a much-needed fillip.
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Such is the clamour to see Woods play this week that all 25,000 tickets for each of the four days were snapped up early last month by local and overseas fans.
“Never before has a golf tournament so completely captured the imagination of Australia,’’ said the Victorian Premier John Brumby, who grinned widely as he posed alongside Woods yesterday.
Woods, 33, has yet to win a tournament in Australia, but he has not played here since the 1998 Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne, and he expressed genuine enthusiasm about being back.
“It’s an unbelievable golf course, we don’t get a chance to play at venues like this and it is truly a treat to play the (Melbourne) sand belt golf courses, the bunkering is just phenomenal,’’ Woods said.
“You would never get a chance to see bunkering like this any other place in the world.
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As for the fans, Woods praised their golfing knowledge.
“But it’s unbelievable how nice the people are and how understanding they are of the game of golf,” he said.
“They know what a good shot is . . . and that’s the cool part about playing in front of people who understand the game.”
Local bookmakers have installed the world number one a prohibitive 6/4 favourite to claim his career 93rd tournament victory in Australia.
However local hope Geoff Ogilvy said the Australian contingent, which includes Adam Scott, a former top 10 ranked player now at 62, should not be discounted.
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“It does seem that everyone seems to have given him (Woods) the tournament already,” said Ogilvy, Australia’s top-ranked golfer at 12 and listed a far-off second favourite at 10/1.
“He is obviously one of the best of all time, perhaps the best of all time? (But) The clear favourite doesn’t always win and there’s quite a few local guys who have played this style of golf more often and know this golf course a little bit better.”