Australians in a frenzy to see Tiger for first time since '98

text size

West/AFP/Getty Images

Golf fans in sports-mad Melbourne will follow Tiger Woods' every step this week in the JBWere Masters at Kingston Heath.

MELBOURNE, Australia -- When Tiger Woods' private jet landed on Australian soil earlier this week after the flight from China, it brought back memories of astronaut Neil Armstrong taking his first step on the moon. A local all-sports radio station broadcast the event live, with the on-air reporter breathlessly describing the golf superstar's first step off the aircraft.

Then when Woods was escorted to his inner-city penthouse rental via limousine, three TV helicopters tracked every inch of the 12-1/2 mile journey as if it was some high-speed chase.

And then after Woods held his first press conference after playing nine holes in a practice round at the Kingston Heath golf course -- which he will try to conquer at this week's JBWere Masters -- the tournament's host TV network extended its midday news bulletin in order to televise the interview session live.

Make no mistake -- Tiger-mania has come to Australia.

West/AFP/Getty Images

Tiger, in white cap and lime-green shirt, is mobbed by adoring Australian fans during a practice round.

Melbourne, a city of four million, certainly has been gripped by Tiger fever since he accepted a $3 million offer by the state government's major events company to be the cornerstone for the planned regeneration of one of Australia's big-three golf tournaments, an event whose past champions include Greg Norman, Gene Littler, Bernhard Langer, Mark O'Meara, Ian Baker-Finch, Michael Campbell, Colin Montgomerie and, more recently, Justin Rose and Aaron Baddeley.

When Woods agreed to play the JBWere Masters for only the second time -- he finished eighth, seven shots behind Peter Lonard in 1997 -- it instantly ignited an explosion of unprecedented interest in an event which has declined since heady days in the 1990s when fans ringed the opening hole for a final-day shootout between Norman and the equally popular Spaniard Seve Ballesteros.

Only a global calamity will bump Woods off newspaper front pages and the lead item on TV news services in sports-mad Melbourne as the world's No.1 player prepares for only his third Australian tournament and first Down Under appearance since the 1998 Presidents Cup at nearby Royal Melbourne.

"We haven't seen him in Australia for 11 years. People should be excited," Australian star Adam Scott said. "He's the greatest sports person in the world right now. He has earned the right to be called that.''

Until this week, no Australian tournament has ever posted the "sold-out'' sign, not even when Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Gary Player dropped in to fan their rivalry deep in the southern hemisphere in the 1970s.

But fans snapped up the 100,000 tickets so fast, it prompted tournament owner IMG to sell Tuesday's practice day and Wednesday's pro-am, too. And even that daily quota, capped for logistical and security reasons, was sold out a month ago in the scramble for a glimpse of the world's greatest golfer as he mapped a strategy with Kiwi caddie Steve Williams.

Rumors abounded of six-figure offers, even as far away as New Zealand, in the corporate jockeying for the right to play with Woods in the pro-am. The counter-bidding only ceased when international wealth management firm JBWere bought the tournament's naming rights -- it had previously been known as the Australian Masters -- allowing managing director Brad Gale, a former scratch golfer whose father Terry won 43 professional events, to experience the thrill of a golfing lifetime.

A staggering betting splurge has Woods installed as $2.60 favorite, with Aussie Geoff Ogilvy the next best at $9. And Ogilvy, who grew up in the area, has intimate knowledge of Kingston Heath's tree-lined fairways, expansive bunkers and billiard-table quick greens from his amateur and early pro days spent playing a clutch of seven private golf clubs, including 2011 Presidents Cup venue Royal Melbourne, that are the famed sandbelt in the city's southeast suburbs.

No one in the field, even the home heroes such as Ogilvy, Baddeley, Scott, Stuart Appleby, Marc Leishman and Richard Green, begrudge Woods' fee which, incidentally, is double the total prize money. All welcome his presence and willingness to promote the game worldwide.

"It's a big investment, but I think it's a real smart one," Appleby said. "In the '80s and '90s, you had the hugeness of Greg Norman playing great and the world's best players following him to play these (Australian) tournaments. This has not been happening for quite a while."

With shoulders-shrug acceptance, Rod Pampling, the defending champion of this event, faced the inevitable -- that he will be playing a supporting role this week, especially in the first two rounds when he's paired with Woods.

"Obviously, I knew Tiger was coming down and I had a joke with him at the start of the year, 'It took me 10 years to win back in Australia and now I'm not going to get any press because you're playing,'" Pampling said.

"It's what Australian golf needed."

Bruce Matthews covers golf for the Melbourne Herald Sun