Woods Draws a Crowd at Congressional

Glover, Hoffman Get a Taste of What It's Like to Play With World's No. 1 Player

Tiger Woods was still three holes away, but the audience started to build at the 10th hole. Congressional's clubhouse balcony was full. Fans surrounded the tee boxes, crowded the rope along the fairway and fought for space at the green.
For Woods, the attention is standard. It is not as customary for the golfers he partnered with yesterday.
Lucas Glover and Charley Hoffman both said they enjoyed the hordes of onlookers that watched their round during the first day of the AT&T National. It helped that Glover won the U.S. Open in June, which enhanced his name recognition. Hoffman, with only one PGA Tour victory on his résumé, is not as renowned but did receive supporters wearing wigs that resembled his flowing golden locks.
"To see the support [Woods] gets every week, and see how he deals with it, it's pretty impressive," Glover said. "I tried to hang on to his coattails early, but couldn't keep up."
More so than the airtight crowd, the lasting impression for Glover and Hoffman was watching Woods's talent up close. Woods shot a 6-under-par 64 -- trumping Glover's 1-under 69 and Hoffman's 1-over 71. They were both impressed by Woods's consistency.
Hoffman noted that it was not the outstanding shot that helps Woods, but the infrequency of a bad shot. While Glover bogeyed four times and Hoffman double-bogeyed and bogeyed, Woods bogeyed just once.
"Any time you can play the best in the world, put your game against his -- and see it's not where his is at right now -- it's fun to watch," Hoffman said.

Yet when Woods is involved, it is not simply 18 holes that must be accounted for, but also the uncontrollable surroundings.
Wherever Woods goes, a mass of humanity both awaits and follows. The gallery turns silent as Woods prepares for his shot. Once he finishes his follow-through, cameras provide a chorus of clicks while the crowd reacts.
Even when Woods is not shooting, he remains the center of attention. At the seventh hole, camera clicks capturing an image of Woods speaking with his caddie disrupted Hoffman's putt. When the ball dropped, Hoffman turned and motioned toward the photographers.
"I wouldn't say that's playing with Tiger," Hoffman said. "That's camera people not doing their job."
Hoffman said it's actually easier to play with Woods. Because so many fans watch, it is not noticeable when a single person moves. By crowding the ropes, the fans provide a de facto fence. And a good shot while grouped with Woods in the first round can draw similar reactions to a good shot in the U.S. Open.
"The yells, the urges on and everything were okay," Glover said. "It wasn't a hassle, as it has been before. [The U.S. Open] helped me get used to it. It was a good experience, then and now."
The threesome will return to the 10th hole at 8:12 this morning, at which point Woods will again earn top billing at his tournament. But for Glover and Hoffman, it provides an opportunity to measure their game against golf's best -- and possibly gain some of his fans, too.
"You know you're going to see good shots from Tiger, you know the crowd is going to be rooting for Tiger," Hoffman said. "But you hope you can get some people getting on your side."