Tiger Woods tries to limp off the rust on Monday at the Masters

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AUGUSTA, Ga. — The Masters doesn’t start until the back nine on Monday.

The actual saying is the back nine on Sunday, but judging by the number of people following Tiger Woods at Augusta National on Monday morning they might want to reconsider.

For the second day in a row, Tiger Woods was out on the course preparing for his 26th Masters Tournament. After taking a Sunday stroll on the famed course’s front nine with just a putter and a few wedges, Woods ramped things up a notch on Monday playing the second nine with a full bag of clubs alongside Will Zalatoris.

Walking with a noticeable hitch in his step, bordering on limp, one that seems to have become his new normal, Woods had patrons lined 15-20 deep at every tee and very green as thousands watched the five-time green jacket winner trying to get his game in shape.

The 48-year-old’s tee shots looked to be a work in progress, several times reaching for a second ball after the first shot wasn’t to his liking. In the small sample size of half of a practice round, his trademark iron game looked solid compared to his drives. Around the greens, Woods hit plenty of chips and pitches with mixed results compared to his impeccable standards.

The finer points of Woods’ preparation were the furthest thing from the minds of the golf fans thrilled to catch a glimpse of the golf legend. After hitting a crisp iron at the par-3 16th hole, the gallery urged Woods to attempt to skip a ball across the water onto the green, a fan-favourite tradition for years. Tiger acquiesced and the crowd roared as his ball skipped several times, and then collectively sighed as it embedded itself into the bank of the pond short of the green.

There seems to be a growing understanding and appreciation that Woods’ time on the course as a competitive player could end at any moment, with the once polarizing superstar now enjoying near-universal support. For his part, Woods appeared in good spirits throughout the morning, chatting with Zalatoris and having a few friendly exchanges with excited patrons along the ropes.

The real task begins on Thursday when Woods attempts to set a Masters record for cuts made with 24. He has never missed the cut at Augusta National as a professional.

Last year at the Masters, Woods made the cut despite playing with a severe limp, before withdrawing during the third round with a flare-up of Plantar fasciitis in his chronically-injured right foot. Woods has not completed four rounds of an official PGA Tour event since last February at the Genesis Invitational where he finished tied for 45th.