Augusta:
The sticky cloud of pollen that had clung to Augusta National Golf Club like a yellow haze since midmorning Sunday began to clear by 2:15 pm, just as Tiger Woods ambled from the practice putting green to the 10th tee to join his friend Mark O'Meara for a nine-hole practice round.
For the first time since Nov 15 at the Australian Masters, Woods was making his game semipublic - the gates are not open to ticket holders until 8 am on Monday - and a group of 15 or so early-arriving reporters stood behind the tee at the 10th hole, which sweeps downhill and right to left away from the clubhouse toward Amen Corner.
Woods has lived in the eye of a news media maelstrom since Nov 27, when he ran over a fire hydrant at the end of his driveway and hit a neighbor's tree in the early hours after Thanksgiving. The one-car accident set off a flood of allegations from women saying he had had extramarital affairs with them. That resulting scandal cost Woods several endorsement deals. He also went through 45 days of treatment for an undisclosed addiction.
At 2 pm on Monday, Woods will face the news media for what is expected to be some tough questions. But the scene at just after 2 pm Sunday seemed - apart from the slow-blooming flowers that have yet to burst into a riot of color - like an ordinary day before the official start of Masters week.
All was placid at the golf course where Woods has won four Masters. Looking trim and fit, Woods arrived at the club's newly unveiled practice facility about 40 minutes before he teed off. There he greeted some players, including Paul Casey, and stood for a few moments in solitude, gazing into the distance before hitting a few wedge shots, a few 3-wood shots and a few putts.
Clad in an outfit as light as his mood - purple shirt, beige pants and a white cap - Woods displayed a demeanor that was easy and free of angst. His only interaction with the news media was a brief locker room quip toward two reporters who were watching him hit practice balls.
Shadowed by large group of security guards, Woods spotted his old friend and neighbor O'Meara walking from the ninth green toward the 10th tee. He stepped through the ropes like a boxer headed into the ring and made his way to O'Meara, embracing him like a long-lost brother.
"It was the first time I had seen him since the British Open last July," O'Meara said. "It was good to see my friend. You know I care deeply about Tiger and his family. I know it's been a tough four or five months. But like I told him out there, this is where he belongs, on the golf course."
For all the talk from fellow professionals about how nervous Woods appeared when they played practice rounds or hit balls with him recently, he looked right at home looking down from the tee at No. 10. Instead it was O'Meara, the 1998 Masters champion, who looked a bit shaky, hooking his drive into the pines guarding the left side. He quickly motioned for another ball from his caddie, and smashed it down the left side of the fairway.
"I gagged on my first one," O'Meara joked. "I'm not used to playing with this kid."
Woods then hit a towering 3-wood that hung out slightly to the right of his intended line. He hit another ball, drawing this one - a low bullet - around the corner. Only contestants, caddies, instructors and club members were permitted on the course before Monday, so the only indication that Woods' second shot was a winner came from his instructor Hank Haney, who patted Woods on the back and put his arm around his shoulder.
In this calm before the storm, Woods was joking with Haney and O'Meara and looking as he always does while preparing for a tournament. What is going on inside, only he knows.
In the media center where he will face more than 200 reporters Monday, a television in the corner was showing Sunday's playoff at the Houston Open. It was quiet in the interview room, where it could get stickier than it was in the 85 degrees of Sunday.
Monday's interview session may be, for the future of Tiger Woods Inc., and the image of the man who presides over it, the most important round of the year.