Nick Kyrgios made his return to clay with a win on Tuesday, defeating Mackenzie McDonald 4-6 6-3 6-4 at the US Men's Clay Court Championships in Houston.

It was the first time Kyrgios had played on clay since his infamous meltdown at the Rome Masters in 2019, where he threw a chair across the court and walked off, handing Casper Ruud a win by default.

After a meandering first set, the Australian world number 94 sparked into life when he saved the first of two break points with a second serve ace in the third game of the second. From there, Kyrgios opened up his shoulders and became more assertive from the baseline, as well as serving 18 aces in the closing two sets.

While again admitting clay is not his favourite surface, the 26-year-old was nevertheless pleased by the manner of the win against McDonald.

"He [McDonald] beat me in Washington where I used to play pretty well, and he's a tricky one because he doesn't make too many errors, and clay's obviously not my preferred surface," he said post-match.

"I just served really well, and just started playing more aggressive and found another gear. I would slip and slide a little bit, but my game actually suits the clay quite well."

While US seventh seed Tommy Paul secured a walkover 6-7 (4-6) 7-6 (7-5) 3-2 win against Peter Gojowczyk, Chilean fifth seed and defending champion Cristian Garin also came from a set down to beat Jack Sock 4-6 6-3 7-5.

American sixth seed Frances Tiafoe faced relatively simpler work, defeating unseeded countryman Marcos Giron in straight sets 6-4 6-4.

Two all-American matches also opened play in Houston on Tuesday, with JJ Wolf securing a 6-4 6-4 win over eighth seed Jenson Brooksby in the first, and Steve Johnson defeating Denis Kudla 6-3 4-6 6-4.

In light of recent high-profile misconduct, the ATP has warned players of harsher punishments for on-court behaviour in an internal note, as it also reviews its framework for stopping repeat offenders.

Nick Kyrgios was fined for audible obscenities and hurling his racquet onto the ground after his defeat to Rafael Nadal in Indian Wells – almost hitting a ballkid - while Alexander Zverev was thrown out of the Mexican Open in February after smashing his racquet repeatedly against the umpire's chair.

Jenson Brooksby also came under fire at the Miami Masters, throwing his racquet and hitting a ballkid in his win over Federico Coria, with Coria also motioning during the match that the consequent point penalty was not sufficient.

The recent spate of on-court outbursts has prompted the ATP to act.

"Effective immediately and as we head into the clay court swing, the ATP officiating team has been directed to take a stricter stance in judging violations of the Code of Conduct," ATP Tour chief Andrea Gaudenzi wrote in a circular to the players.

"Additionally, we are also undertaking a review of the Code, as well as the disciplinary processes, to ensure that it provides appropriate and up-to-date penalties for serious violations and repeat offenders."

Kyrgios was also fined after his loss to Jannik Sinner in Miami for criticising the umpire and smashing his racquet, and although Zverev was handed an eight-week suspension for his outburst in Acapulco, the ATP appears determined to nullify future misconduct.

While Gaudenzi, the Italian former top 20 player, understood the human elements to players competing under extreme pressure, he asserted the game itself should be taken into consideration.

"The first three months of the season have seen an unusual frequency of high-profile incidents involving unsportsmanlike conduct," Gaudenzi wrote.

"These incidents shine a bad light on our sport. This conduct affects everyone, and sends the wrong message to our fans, especially young fans."

Belinda Bencic survived a scare as she advanced to the Charleston Open second round with a 4-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-3 win over Wang Xiyu.

The Olympic gold medallist was a semi-finalist in Miami last time out, while she has also reached the quarter-finals in Sydney and St Petersburg this year.

However, the 10th seed was in danger of falling at the first hurdle at 5-2 down in the second set against world number 149 Wang.

Bencic rallied to force a tie-break and, subsequently, a deciding set, which she controlled to set up a second-round clash with 16-year-old Linda Fruhvirtova.

Magda Linette also fought back from the brink of defeat; the world number 64 saving a match point before prevailing against Maria Voleynets 4-6 6-3 7-6 (7-4).

Although, there was no joy for former champion Sloane Stephens, who was beaten in three sets by Zheng Qinwen.

Stephens – winner here in 2016 – recovered from losing the opening set 6-3 to take the second 6-4. But there was no denying the Chinese teenager, who dropped just nine points as she raced through the decider 6-0 to claim the first top-50 win of her career.

The likes of Jessica Pegula and Madison Keys were due to feature in the evening session, which was postponed due to severe inclement weather including the possible threat of a tornado.

In Bogota, top seed and home favourite Camila Osorio advanced to the last 16, but only after opponent Ylena In-Albon was forced to retire at 2-2 in the deciding set.

Fourth seed Hanna Udvardy and eighth seed Harriet Dart were beaten in straight sets by Dayana Yastremska and Elina Avanesyan respectively.

Jurgen Klopp has revealed he expected nothing less than the stern examination Liverpool were given en route to a 3-1 win at Benfica.

The Reds took control of the sides' Champions League quarter-final tie with victory in Portugal but the game was far less comfortable than the scoreline perhaps suggests.

The hosts created a string of chances after Darwin Nunez had halved the deficit early in the second period and were somewhat unfortunate to concede a potentially decisive Luis Diaz goal late on.

However, the challenge posed by Benfica certainly did not surprise Reds boss Klopp, who said: "In the end, coming here in an away game in the Champions League is tough. Obviously, Benfica fought for their lives. 

"We opened the door a little bit too much but they deserved the goal as well, even when we could have defended probably better. It's not that had absolutely no situations before.

"It was a tough game, what I expected, especially when they scored the crowd was there immediately. We knew it, we always know it, 2-0 is nothing, it's nice but not more. 

"They scored the goal and it was much more open than we wanted but, in the end, we should have scored [more] in the first half, could have scored in the second. 

"They played a really good game but the goalie was anyway the best player, he made a couple of really good saves. That's it, we won it, two goals up, half-time, not more, not less, let's keep going."

Klopp went on to provide a positive update on midfielder Fabinho, who was involved in a nasty clash of heads with Nicolas Otamendi in the final minutes of normal time.

He added: "Fabinho has a little cut – he's fine. It is a cut in the back of his head. It will need a bit of time but he should be fine.”

The German also refused to get overly excited about Liverpool's chances of progression to the semi-finals, insisting Benfica will remain dangerous at Anfield.

He continued: "It's half-time, we have a much better result than before, we know much more about the opponent. 

"They will go for it again, they won at Ajax and ground out all the results they needed in the group stage.

"We are aware of the quality and now we have a nice game in between [against Manchester City] but then we will be ready again for Benfica."

Pep Guardiola spoke of the "massive influence" that Kevin De Bruyne brings to Manchester City after the Belgian's winner on his 50th Champions League appearance for the club.

City snatched a 1-0 lead to take into the second leg of the quarter-final against Atletico Madrid at the Wanda Metropolitano, with De Bruyne rifling in from substitute Phil Foden's pass in the 70th minute.

The 30-year-old playmaker was heavily involved throughout, but it had looked like being a frustrating night for him before he finished off the excellent throughball from Foden.

Moments before the goal arrived, as Guardiola made a triple change that saw Foden, Jack Grealish and Gabriel Jesus enter the action, the manager called De Bruyne over to the touchline.

He passed on a word of wisdom or two, and almost in a flash City hit the front in the tie, finally breaching an Atletico defence that had manfully held out against heavy pressure from the hosts in rainy Manchester.

City had 70.5 per cent of possession and Atletico were credited with no shots at the home side's goal. Still, the tie could yet change in Madrid, and City will be thankful talisman De Bruyne, one yellow card short of suspension, was not booked for hacking down Joao Felix in the first half.

Atletico boss Diego Simeone described City as "possibly the best team in the world", but the respect between the superstar coaches is mutual.

"It was a difficult game against a tough opponent," Guardiola said.

He said City were lacking "the right rhythm" at times in the second half, which spurred him to make the changes.

Guardiola said: "It's a good result fortunately. At the end we had one or two more chances with Kevin to score more goals, but even 1-0 or 2-0 to go to Madrid it is always difficult. But good result, we won the game."

Turning his thoughts to De Bruyne, the midfielder who had to hustle as a false nine for a large chunk of the game, Guardiola said: "I think he's in the best moment of the season right now.

"He's sharp, he's quick, he's positive, his influence on our game is massive. He made an exceptional goal in the combination with Phil."

De Bruyne had a game-high five shots, forcing Jan Oblak into a fine save from one free-kick before the goal arrived.

Foden's vision and slick pass to find De Bruyne's run was admirable, almost lifted from the De Bruyne playbook.

"He has a special quality. His first steps are massive," Guardiola told a news conference. "He had the composure to make an incredible assist to Kevin.

"We knew it in the beginning with Gabriel and him, when our game was a little bit flat they could change it when [Atletico] were a bit more tired. With Jack, we could continue to control the game. We did it and they were brilliant."

Guardiola said City needed a presence in attack, with Atletico defending in two lines of five, effectively giving up the idea of scoring themselves.

They had a couple of breaks towards goal, but Ederson was largely a spectator.

"They defend so well, so compact, and so deep," Guardiola said.

"We need the talent like Phil has shown. We were patient because you have to be against these type of teams. They want to be getting you anxious and nervous. You get disorganised a bit and they punish you up front because they have top, top players. They have incredible quality up front.

"They are so good and if you are not attacking in the right way they punish you."

Looking to the second leg next week, Guardiola added: "We will go there not to defend the result, but to try to win the game.

"We have to control our emotions and do what we have to do. They have faced this kind of knockout stages many times... more than us. It will be a good test for us and our maturity in this game."

Rival boss Simeone said he had planned for City to have Foden on the pitch from the first whistle.

The Atletico head coach, who has led his side to two Champions League final defeats, said: "We expected him to play as a starter because he is a very dynamic player.

"He came on in the second half, and any of the three who came on have different characteristics. In the same way that they talked about being patient at half-time, waiting for their moment, we also waited for it. With different weapons, we were both looking for the same thing."

Simeone will now plot for Atletico's home leg, when they will have to show more attacking verve, which could open gaps for City to exploit. City have a tough Premier League assignment to come first when they face title rivals Liverpool on Sunday, and that may help Atletico.

"You always have to come up with something better," Simeone said. "It's a long match, divided into two parts, here and at home. They don't care, they'll play the same way. They're possibly the best team in the world. But with humility we'll compete."

Kevin De Bruyne believes Manchester City were rewarded for their calmness and patience during the Champions League quarter-final first leg 1-0 victory over Atletico Madrid.

De Bruyne marked his 50th appearance for the Citizens in the competition by striking the only goal at the Etihad Stadium.

The Belgium international latched onto Phil Foden's delicious throughball 20 minutes from time, before neatly slotting past Jan Oblak.

City had endured a frustrating first leg as they struggled to break down their opponents' typically stubborn defence.

But their persistence eventually paid off with Pep Guardiola’s side taking a slender lead to Madrid for the return fixture next week.

"It was a very hard game," De Bruyne told BT Sport. "They play so defensively tight and solid; that's their way of playing. I think we played good under the circumstances. 

"They played almost five at the back and five in midfield, so it's very hard to find the spaces.

"You need to be calm, patient, and try to find the spaces. You're going to lose balls because it's so compact, but we had a couple of chances in the second half and managed to get one.

"I expect similar over there [in the second leg]. If the game is tight, they will have to attack a little more."

Diego Simeone's men arrived in Manchester for the second time in a month - having defeated United at Old Trafford in the previous round - protecting a six-match winning streak, and will fancy their chances of turning things around next Wednesday.

Nevertheless, Guardiola insists that the Premier League leaders do not intend to sit back and rest on their laurels at Wanda Metropolitano.

Asked if he was happy with his side's performance, the head coach told BT Sport: "A lot. 

"We played an incredible top side who are difficult to face, but it is a good result. We had chances to score a second and third.

"It is not easy to face a team with a lot of experience in this tournament. 

"We will go there to score and try and win again."

Great art will typically have its back to the wall, and for an hour on Tuesday it was a great artist who stood with his back to a red wall on a rainy night in Manchester, unhappy with his lot.

A promising exhibition was turning into a soggy mess as Kevin De Bruyne had his visionary brushstrokes stripped of their customary colour, the false nine lacking his usual lustre.

But then the narrative flipped, and a 50th Champions League appearance in City colours for this wonderful Belgian footballer had its masterpiece, a finish any genuine number nine would admire from substitute Phil Foden's delicious pass. One-nil, and that was how it stayed, a fine result from a taxing evening.

City manager Pep Guardiola had joked about the perception that he can "overthink" in big games in the build-up to this tussle, and he fooled those who cooked up the team sheet that reckoned on De Bruyne occupying a wide-right midfield role.

Of course he cropped up there at times, on the left too, and at times in the centre of midfield, but De Bruyne spent just as much time as the further City man forward, chasing lost causes, closing down, doing the donkey work.

This latest landmark appearance for City – coming so soon after his 200th Premier League appearance for the leaders on Saturday – ended in triumph where it could have been frustration, or been worse.

You see, sometimes great artists do silly things, like slicing off an ear or headbutting Marco Materazzi, and when De Bruyne chopped down Joao Felix in the 34th minute to cut short an Atletico counter-attack, it looked like being a costly error.

A yellow card was surely coming, and with De Bruyne already a booking away from suspension, City would have lost him for the second leg of this tie. Referee Istvan Kovacs kept the card in his pocket and an incredulous Diego Simeone, the Atletico head coach, had to be asked to cool it by the man with the whistle. Simeone might be known for his histrionics, but this seemed eminently excusable.

De Bruyne has entered the imperial phase of his City career, with records and landmarks stacking up alongside trophies. But the Champions League is the trophy City and De Bruyne want now, and it is the obdurate brilliance of teams such as Atletico that they must find a way past to reach that goal.

When Guardiola substituted Raheem Sterling, Ilkay Gundogan and Riyad Mahrez in the 68th minute, bringing on Foden, Jack Grealish and Gabriel Jesus, he called De Bruyne over to the touchline too, passing on a word or two of advice. De Bruyne had seen a free-kick well saved by Jan Oblak, but was otherwise being stifled, and when he was not being stifled he was looking thoroughly fed up in the rain.

Barely two minutes after the Pep talk and the goal arrived, local lad Foden with a pass from the gods and the finish doing it justice.

De Bruyne came into this game having made more assists in the Champions League than any other player from an English club since his City debut in the competition in September 2015. To those 17 assists – only Neymar (25), Kylian Mbappe (20) and Angel Di Maria (18) have had more – De Bruyne has now added 11 goals.

Five of his previous 10 had come from outside the box, but this was a striker's goal, running in behind and lashing into the left corner.

A head injury forced De Bruyne to abandon last season's Champions League final, and City will want to be sure he is present and correct should they get through to the showpiece again.

A tricky second leg awaits them next week at the Wanda Metropolitano, then potentially a semi-final. But De Bruyne's strike was as admirable as City's persistence against an Atletico side who repeatedly got every man back inside their final third at the behest of their strutting boss, and it was the sort of result that had the home fans at the Etihad Stadium dreaming once again.

During the international break, De Bruyne and wife Michele took 24 hours away in Paris, and it will be the French capital that stages the Champions League final in May.

City might be there. De Bruyne's time, City's time, might be coming.

Liverpool took control of their Champions League quarter-final tie against Benfica as they claimed a hard-fought 3-1 win in Portgual.

Jurgen Klopp's side looked to be cruising into the last four after first-half goals from Ibrahima Konate and Sadio Mane gave them a deserved half-time lead.

However, Benfica were back in it when Darwin Nunez netted shortly after the restart, and they continued to threaten an equaliser before Luis Diaz wrapped things up in somewhat fortuitous fashion late on. 

The signs of the hosts' potential were evident in an encouraging start that came about thanks in no small part to a fervent crowd at the Estadio da Luz.

A fast-paced early break from Rafa seemed to hint at how Benfica might trouble their opponents and Nunez soon followed suit to provide a low cross that deserved better support.

But Liverpool, too, were creating chances and eventually took one when Konate rose highest in space to head home an Andy Robertson corner.

That marked the start of utter domination from the visitors, who double their tally just past the half-hour mark when Diaz nodded down a beauty of a Trent Alexander-Arnold pass to hand Mane a tap-in. 

Alexander-Arnold almost created another goal just before the break, an incredible pass on the turn putting in Mohamed Salah for a one-on-one that he should have done better with.

Given the one-sided nature of the first half, it did not feel like Liverpool would rue that miss, but it took just four minutes after the restart for Benfica to totally change the complexion of the game.

They visitors looked wide open even before Konate's miscued back-post clearance allowed Nunez all the time in the world to side-foot home and ignite the atmosphere once more.

Nelson Verissimo's men were subsequently transformed and went close again through a Nunez header before Everton shot straight at Alisson when he perhaps should have found a corner.

That flurry of opportunities prompted Klopp to look to his bench, Jordan Henderson, Roberto Firmino and Diogo Jota emerging all at once to try and settle things down.

The trio partially succeeded in their aim, although they weren't capable of entirely negating Benfica's threat on the break, or silencing cacophony that greeted their every burst forward.

However, unaided by any mistakes similar to that which allowed Nunez to score, the hosts failed to find a second goal.

And they were hit by a late sucker punch when a heavy deflection on a Naby Keita through-ball allow Diaz to round Odisseas Vlachodimos and pass the ball home.

Kevin De Bruyne was the hero as Manchester City overcame Atletico Madrid 1-0 in their Champions League quarter-final first leg at the Etihad Stadium.

The Belgium international struck the only goal 20 minutes from time to hand Pep Guardiola's side a narrow advantage heading into the second leg at the Wanda Metropolitano next week.

Atletico had frustrated the Premier League leaders for large periods of the contest on Tuesday with a typically stubborn defensive display.

However, their resistance was finally broken when De Bruyne latched onto Phil Foden's precise throughball, before sliding past Jan Oblak. 

Guardiola had overseen victories in each of City's previous three Champions League matches against Spanish sides.

But despite boasting well over 70 per cent of possession and forcing four corners, the hosts were unable to break down their stubborn opponents before the interval.

City failed to register a single shot on target from six attempts in the first half, with Atletico also making important blocks to deny Joao Cancelo and De Bruyne.

Ilkay Gundogan almost unlocked the Atleti defence, but the skipper was just unable to get Riyad Mahrez's inviting cross under control.

City continued to carry the greater threat after the restart; Oblak getting down well to keep out De Bruyne's free-kick, while Aymeric Laporte headed over from a Mahrez corner.

Guardiola introduced Jack Grealish, Gabriel Jesus and Foden in a bid to find an elusive opening goal.

And the latter made an impact within two minutes of stepping onto the field; producing a perfectly timed pass for De Bruyne, who finished clinically with his right foot from inside the penalty area.

The midfielder then had an effort blocked by former City defender Stefan Savic, but his strike was enough to give City the edge.

Top seed Felix Auger-Aliassime cruised through his debut match at the Grand Prix Hassan II as Dan Evans crashed out in the first round.

World number nine Auger-Aliassime needed just an hour and 24 minutes to see off home hope Elliot Benchetrit 6-3 6-3.

He saved all six break points he faced to set up a second-round meeting with Slovak lefty Alex Molcan in Morocco.

But Evans' stay in Marrakech is over after he succumbed to a surprise 6-4 6-2 loss to Pablo Andujar. The Briton has now won just one of his last five matches on tour.

Lorenzo Musetti has endured a tough start to 2022 and headed into this tournament 5-7 on the year.

However, the 20-year-old delivered a reminder of his potential with a straight-sets win over fourth seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas.

Joao Sousa knocked out fifth seed Federico Delbonis but sixth seed Botic van de Zandschulp and eighth seed Laslo Djere did prevail, as did veteran Richard Gasquet.

Aaron Finch's half-century and Ben McDermott's composure proved to be decisive as Australia defeated Pakistan by three wickets in Tuesday's thrilling one-off T20I.

Pakistan won the ODI series thanks in large part to the brilliance of captain Babar Azam and his superb 66 propelled the hosts to a competitive 162-8 in Lahore.

Babar's composure at the crease was much-needed for Pakistan, who lost Mohammad Rizwan (23) and Fakhar Zaman (0) in successive balls to T20I debutant Cameron Green (2-16).

Adam Zampa finally drew a stray shot out of Pakistan's skipper, who picked out Nathan Ellis to leave his side on 118-4.

Having already dismissed Iftikhar Ahmed, Ellis – the pick of Australia's bowlers with 4-28 – then did the damage through Pakistan's middle order, getting rid of the dangerous Khushdil Shah (24), Asif Ali (3) and Shaheen Shah Afridi (0), though Usman Qadir's flurry of 18 not out boosted the hosts.

Travis Head quickly set about getting the tourists' chase on its way, scoring a rapid 26 that included four boundaries before he was sent packing by Haris Rauf.

Josh Inglis (24) kept up the pace until Qadir struck, but Australia seemed well set before Marnus Labuschagne, Marcus Stoinis and Green were dismissed in the space of 20 balls.

Yet captain Finch anchored the chase as he returned to form following back-to-back ducks in the ODI series, with his steady innings steering Australia into needing 15 runs from three overs.

A costly start to the 18th over from Haris saw McDermott plunder successive boundaries, though the pressure was back on Australia when Finch found Asif in the deep.

Afridi (2-21) rounded off an excellent spell by bowling Sean Abbott for a duck, yet another poor Haris ball handed McDermott the chance to clip away the winning boundary.

Captains come up big

Babar gave yet another exhibition of how he has risen to the top of the batting rankings in another sensational knock - his 66 coming at a strike rate of 143.47.

Yet it was World Cup winner Finch who took the trophy, as he showed plenty of patience to stay at the crease for 18 overs, showing why interim head coach Andrew McDonald backed him to stay on as skipper.

Historic tour comes to a close

It has been a brilliant match-up between Pakistan and Australia over the last month or so and the tourists will finally return home.

Australia have now won each of their past four T20Is against Pakistan, the first time they have gone on such a run, though this was the first meeting in the format between the teams in Pakistan.

Russia has withdrawn its appeal against a ban for its teams from FIFA competitions after World Cup qualifying continued without its senior men's national team.

Russian teams were suspended from FIFA and UEFA competitions following the country's invasion of Ukraine.

The FIFA sanction meant Valeri Karpin's Russia could not compete in their scheduled World Cup play-off semi-final against Poland.

The Russian Football Union (RFU) asked for the ban to be delayed, with that match set for late March, but the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) rejected its request.

It meant Poland progressed to a final against Sweden, who had defeated the Czech Republic. Poland won to advance to Qatar 2022.

With that tie settled and Poland drawn into a World Cup group alongside Argentina, Mexico and Saudi Arabia, CAS announced on Tuesday the RFU had withdrawn its appeal last week.

Russia's challenges of various bans – including from UEFA – appear set to continue, however.

Bryson DeChambeau is thrilled to see Tiger Woods back and ready to feature at The Masters, though he is unsure just quite how the 15-time major winner has overcome adversity once again.

Woods, who remarkably won the Masters in 2019 after coming back from spinal surgery, suffered serious leg and foot injuries in a car crash in California in February 2021.

The 46-year-old was unsure if he would ever play professionally again yet, 14 months after the accident, he is set to make a remarkable return to action at Augusta National, where he won his maiden major title in 1997.

It will be the first competitive action for Woods since he competed at The Masters in November 2020.

DeChambeau, who is overcoming his own injury issues to feature in the season's first major, is delighted to have Woods back on the course.

And while the big-driving American is unsure just how Woods has managed to come back, he has tipped the five-time Masters champion to make a bid for glory.

"Its great to see his face. I mean, I was walking down, I was teeing off on 3, and he was walking down 17. He just, like, jumped up and raised up, and we were both kind of air high fiving, like saying, 'what's up'," DeChambeau told a news conference.

"It's just great to see him in a positive frame of mind. I haven't spoken to him much, but I have seen him and it seems likes he's in a really great frame of mind and he wants to win.

"Obviously, he's determined to win. He wants to come back here and win. Tiger is Tiger, and you can never count him out. He is one that may shock a lot of people if he does tee it up this week.

"Very, very excited to have him back. Creates a lot of hype and, shoot, from the driving range, we could hear the loud roar when he came out of the clubhouse up to that first tee, and that was pretty special to see or hear at least.

"I couldn't be happier for him in the place he's at right now, coming back, and proud of him, too. Shoot, coming back off that injury, we've had some conversations, and man, I don't know how he's done it. It's very impressive."

While DeChambeau is looking to make a vast improvement on his T46 finish at Augusta from last year, Jon Rahm heads into the tournament aiming to add a second major title to his collection, having recently lost the world number one ranking to Scottie Scheffler.

But the Spaniard, too, has not failed to get caught up in the excitement of Woods' return.

"You can feel it. A lot of it is Tiger," Rahm said when asked about the excitement surrounding the build-up at Augusta. "I was playing with Tony Finau on the front nine yesterday. We were about four or five holes ahead, we were on 7, and they [Tiger's group] were walking down on 2, and I've never seen a mass this big, even on a Sunday in contention, on those two holes.

"It feels like this Monday they allowed way more people to come in just because the last two years had limited invitations, COVID, and what everybody has gone through. More people wanted to come out, then Tiger's playing, so a lot more people are coming out Monday trying to see him. It's a combination of things, I think.

"There's a lot more electricity in the air in that sense, and you have Tiger being there, yeah. Monday felt like a Saturday in a regular event."

Woods has been grouped with Louis Oosthuizen and Joaquin Niemann for the first round on Thursday.