Tiger Woods sprang a surprise at Augusta National

Tiger Woods sprang a surprise at Augusta National on Sunday when he turned up without notice to play the back nine at the U.S. Masters venue with his good friend and long-time mentor Mark O’Meara.

Sunlight had barely appeared over the mighty walls between Augusta National and Washington Road and Tiger Woods, the No. 1-ranked golfer in the world, was already hitting golf balls on the new practice range.

Woods was hitting driver warming up for this morning’s Masters practice round with Fred Couples. The two friends seemed to be in good humor as they chatted and laughed between swings. Also on the practice tee was Steve Williams, Woods’ loyal caddie, and swing coach Hank Haney. They were expected to tee off around 8 a.m.

Trevor Immelman was also on the range warming up.

Woods was wearing a white hat, white shirt with gray horizontal stripes, gray slacks and white shoes. One of three gallery grandstands behind the range already had filled up behind Woods. Masters tournament patrons were allowed on the practice range at 7 a.m. but won’t be able get onto the golf course until 8 a.m.

“That’s him. There’s no mistaking that swing,” one fan said excitedly to his friend upon spotting Woods.

After moving from the practice tee to hit some bunker shots, Woods climbed into a golf cart with a blond woman—a tournament official, not his wife Elin Nordgren—and was carted off to the putting green on the other side of the stately Augusta National clubhouse. Woods received modest applause as he was driven away.

One man called out to Woods as he passed by.

“Welcome back, Tiger!,” said John Tidwell of Decatur, Ala.

Woods responded, “Thank you, sir.”

“We’ve been coming here since 1997 and that’s the first time he’s responded to us,” said Tidwell, who was with his wife and two sons.

Although Woods was the most marketable player in the game and drives up television ratings by around 50 percent when he competes, his image needs to be slowly rebuilt if he is to win back many of the fans he has lost over the last five months.

Unquestionably the greatest golfer of his generation and arguably the best of all time, Woods can expect to receive his fair share of biting retorts from the galleries, just as he has been lampooned by television chat-show hosts in recent months.

Although the fans at Augusta are known for their respect and are tightly controlled by officials, Woods said last month he was apprehensive about the reception he would get.