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Woods pays tribute to 'unbelievable' Augusta support

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Tiger Woods paid tribute to the Augusta crowd after he was greeted by the "loudest cheers" of his career upon his return to golf at the 2010 Masters.

Woods hit his lowest ever first round score at Augusta to mark his comeback from a five-month absence due to personal problems, taking him to within two shots of the top of the leaderboard on four-under-par. Fred Couples leads going into day two after an exceptional 66.

The world No. 1 received support wherever he went during the opening day's play and, asked if he heard any negative comments, Woods replied "absolutely not". The 14-time Major winner credited the crowd with helping him to stay focused, on a day that saw him hit two eagles.

"That felt good, it felt really good. Just going about my business, it felt good," said Woods.

"It was unbelievable all day. In all the years I've played, I've never heard the people cheer this loud. It certainly helped keep my spirits up because I was certainly missing a bunch of putts out there!

"I actually felt no different from any other start. I clicked into the usual mode, thinking I'll hit a little fade off the tee. The tees were up today, I think only four was back. 15 was up, pretty much every hole seemed to be up a little bit, which makes the second shot easier to play."

At times the trademark Woods drama was back on the course as he slowly raised his putter to signal an eagle putt at the 15th, while a missed birdie chance at the 16th had the American sinking to his knees. After the most troubling period of his career, Woods seemed to be back to his normal self, and he admitted he did not know what emotions to expect.

"The whole idea was to not give any shots away," he said. "The emotions were what they were."

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