Englishman Seve Benson never has seen so many people on a golf course. Some 10,000 fans lined both sides of the 10th fairway yesterday as the sun was climbing over Melbourne, Australia.

Never mind that they did not come to watch him.

Tiger Woods, who teed off behind Benson, 23, made the Australian Masters feel like the one at Augusta National. Tournament officials said 21,356 people came through the turnstiles, an enormous crowd for the size of this golf course. Most of them scooped up tickets months ago after learning the world's No. 1 golfer would compete Down Under for the first time in 11 years.

Woods delivered a performance that matched the hype, even if it fell slightly short of his own standards.

Despite a few loose shots with short irons and spending most of the round lag putting on greens that were softer than he expected, Woods had a birdie chance on every hole except his last, easily handled the par 5s, nearly drove one of the par 4s and wound up in a three-way tie for the lead at 6-under 66.

He was tied with Branden Grace of South Africa and James Nitties, an Australian who easily kept his PGA Tour card after his rookie season in America. Nitties gets extra credit for his 66 because he had to play behind Woods.

"It was amazing," said Benson, a European Tour rookie who opened with a 70 and needs a big week to keep his card.

Nitties' best week on the PGA Tour was a tie for fourth at the FBR Open in Arizona, with the famed raucous crowd on the par-3 16th. Even so, this gallery took him back.

• Children's Miracle Network Classic: Justin Rose shot a 7-under 65 to take the lead in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. Upstart Rickie Fowler, Greg Owen and Casey Wittenberg were one shot back at Disney World in the final PGA Tour event of the season.

• Hong Kong Open: Udorn Duangdecha shot an 8-under 62 behind 10 birdies to lead Robert-Jan Derksen of the Netherlands by one stroke after the first round in Hong Kong.

• Kiwi Challenge: Anthony Kim won despite making a bogey in a playoff, beating Sean O'Hair to win the $1 million check in Hawke's Bay, New Zealand. Kim shot a 5-under 66 and was leading over the back nine until O'Hair made a birdie on the 18th hole for a 3-under 69 to force a playoff at 5-under 137 in the 36-hole exhibition for players under 30. O'Hair found trouble left of the 650-yard 15th hole and shot a double bogey, allowing Kim to win by taking four shots to reach the green and two-putting for a bogey.

• Taiheiyo Masters: Japanese teen star Ryo Ishikawa shot a 4-under 68 to finish a stroke behind the leaders after the first round in Gotemba, Japan. Ishikawa, 18, a four-time winner on the Japanese tour this year, bogeyed the final hole to drop a stroke behind Kenichi Kuboya, Tomohiro Kondo and Shigeru Nonaka on the Taiheiyo Club's Gotemba Course.

• Colin Montgomerie will captain Europe's team for the Royal Trophy match play tournament against Asia Jan. 8-10 after Seve Ballesteros ruled himself out over lingering concerns from surgery to treat a brain tumor.

Looking for more from the Post-Gazette? Join PG+, our members-only web site. You'll get exclusive sports content, opinion, financial information, discounts from retailers and restaurants, and more. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.