MELBOURNE, Australia — The sun-baked fans let out a cheer Wednesday 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.

That was two months before Woods, who was 21, captured his first major by winning the Masters by 12 strokes.

He now has 14 major championships and victories in 12 countries — but not yet in Australia. Even so, the bookies have installed him as the heavy favorite at Kingston Heath.

The JBWere Masters gets under way Thursday, with Woods playing alongside defending champion Rod Pampling and Craig Parry, who won the last time Woods competed in this part of the world. That was the New Zealand Open in 2002.

"A good omen for me," Parry said.

Woods is coming off a tie for sixth last week in Shanghai at the HSBC Champions, where he started two shots out of the lead and in the final group only to falter with a 72 to finish five behind Phil Mickelson.

His only other experience in Melbourne was at Huntingdale in 1997 and Royal Melbourne in 1998 for the Presidents Cup.

"Some local knowledge helps around here," Adam Scott said. "But if anyone can figure it out, Tiger Woods obviously can. He's the best player in the world and he's playing well. There's no question he's the man to beat this week."

Woods didn't even try to reach the 294-yard sixth, one of the signature holes at Kingston Heath. Instead, he hit a stinger 3-wood and tried to run the ball into the front bunker, missing his target and winding up in the gallery just left of the green.

Why not the driver?