Tiger's animal magnetism knows no borders

AUGUSTA, Ga. - Sumeth Budhraja is a 40-year-old golf nut from Bangkok, a 3-handicap with a nice short game.

In October, he won a local tournament at Siam Country Club in Pattaya, a beach resort about 70 miles south of the capital city. He shot 78 in the first flight.

Barclays, the international finance monolith, sponsored the tournament. First prize: a trip to the Masters.

Budhraja is a Sikh, bearded and pleasant, so proud of his heritage that he not only wore a blue turban on Thursday but also a T-shirt that explained the reasons why he wore it. (Final reason: It makes him look good.)

He was the spiciest flavor in the mulligatawny stew that is Tiger Woods' gallery: blacks and whites and Asians, men and women and children, many of whom follow golf to follow him.

They migrated, like disciples, congregating at the driving range at 9:30 a.m., where he cracked shot after shot for 45 minutes, like gunfire of different calibers. They shuffled to the putting green for his 30 minutes of head-down discipline. They moved 50 yards west, to No. 1 "Tea Olive," where they gasped at his magnificent opening drive and milled about his new girlfriend, star skier Lindsey Vonn, who quickly ditched the crowd for the cool clubhouse.

They dallied at Amen Corner, briefly removed from his presence as he followed the par-3 into the recesses: him, relieved of their oppression; them, relieved to stand in the shade as the humid midday temperature rose to 85 degrees. Finally, they trudged up "Holly" to watch his final par; then ringed the putting green for another 20 minutes of drills.

They had seen Tiger snap two 3-woods on No. 2; the second one hit a patron's knee, felled the man and settled nicely in the rough. They saw Tiger go left again on No. 7, this time landing his ball in a fan's cup, where it bounced off the ice and back into play. They saw Woods acknowledge neither victim.

Actually, Budhraja didn't see the fans get hit. He picked up Tiger at No. 8, where Woods annihilated a driver, hit an 8-iron long, then got up and down, the theme of Thursday's round.

He went long and right on No. 8, but a chip and putt gave him his second birdie. Just as important, clever wedge play on Nos. 2 and 3 saved pars. He stuck the tee shot close on No. 6 for his first birdie, lagged a 50-footer to the back of No. 13 to exit the Corner par-par-birdie, but three-putted the baffling 14th, which he said he read to break one way from behind the hole, the other way from behind the ball, so he jabbed at the putt and it wrenched to the right.

"A solid day," Woods said.

"An amazing day," Budhraja said. "I followed Tiger, you know; I mean, he's half Thai."

Well, Thaworn Wiratchant is whole Thai, and Budhraja didn't watch him. Then again, Wiratchant was 7-over. Also, Wiratchant isn't Tiger.

The Tiger watch usually went eight or nine deep; 40 deep in on the grass at Amen Corner. The observations were fascinating to hear:

"I don't know why I expected him to be bigger," said a goofy, beery college kid. Woods, 6-1, is startlingly lean, his shoulders a bit narrower than they seem on television, his waist absurdly waspish. He carries most of his 185 pounds in his powerful legs.

"Hey, Jim. I can die now," said an adoring thirtysomething businessman, absurdly dressed in penny loafers, seersucker shorts and long-sleeved oxford. Tiger had just birdied No. 13.

"Did he birdie that hole?" asked an older man next to him, with a sneer. Yes, he was told. "Dammit."

Which underscores the unsavory element of Woods' gallery. People actually follow him to root against him.

That sort of behavior makes sense when it's a paunchy old Scotsman who comes off like a grouchy Mrs. Doubtfire, but Colin Montgomerie hasn't played here since 2007.

The reasons for the ire against Tiger are as obvious as they are plentiful. Tiger generally ignores his following. Tiger ruined his image and his family. And Tiger is part black.

Plenty of people still don't like integration of this sort.

Still, you don't see a bunch of Frenchmen dogging English hero Luke Donald.

Donald, one of Woods' playing partners Thursday and Friday, birdied all four par-5s and had two other birds but, with five messy bogeys and a cracked driver, he finished 1-under. Donald managed playing in the Tiger tornado with aplomb, but then Donald is the No. 4 golfer on the planet, less than a year removed from the top spot and a frequent sidekick to the world's biggest sports draw.

Scott Piercy is less seasoned. He is 37th, mainly on the strength of his win at the RBC Canadian Open last year, a tournament whose field largely is comprised of players not invited to the British Open the week before. This was his first Masters.

Cruelly, he completed Tiger's threesome.

"No, no, it was cool," Piercy insisted. "And playing with Tiger here, is a chance to learn."

One lesson: Piercy, ranked 12th in driving distance in 2012, pulled driver on No. 18. He was 1-over, eager to put a short iron in his hands and birdie the seductive pin on the back of the sticky, slow green.

Piercy drove it into the bunker, hit his approach short, chipped over the back, chunked another chip and took a double-bogey 6.

"Tiger, there, he hits 3-wood, takes the bunker out of play," Piercy said.

And kept 70 in play. He also shot 70 in the opening round of three of his four wins. Significant?

"It's a good start," Woods said.

It was a great start for Budhraja, who still cannot believe his good fortune.

"I was a guest at the tournament," Budhraja said. "I didn't even know the first prize was a trip to the Masters!"

And, for nearly 8 hours, the chance to flavor the stew.

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