MELBOURNE, Australia — The sun-baked fans let out a cheer today when Tiger Woods pulled his driver from the bag, a rarity at the Australian Masters on the shortest golf course he has played all year.

That doesn't mean Kingston Heath, a par 72 at a mere 7,059 yards, will be his easiest test.

Woods played the entire course for the first time in the pro-am before another massive crowd, picking his spots around the sandbelt course that is framed beautifully by bunkers and native brush.

"He's going to have to show some of his best stuff playing around a course like this," Geoff Ogilvy said. "He's going to have to play smart, play imaginative golf and stuff. That's what he has really been good at the last few years, especially shaping his ball around and playing proper golf ... old-style golf. I think it's going to be fun to watch."

There won't be a shortage of people watching.

The Australian Masters has been sold out for months, not long after it was announced that Woods was receiving a $3 million appearance fee for his first individual tournament Down Under since the Australian Masters at nearby Huntingdale in 1997.