One of the best parts of reporting on a tournament is being able to visit the range to see the players through their pre-match routine, so it was with great pleasure that I got a front-seat view of Tiger and friends warming up for Friday's play. A quick rundown...

Woods: worked through the bag at a steady pace, but really gave time to what looked like the 3-wood. Perhaps he is really looking to attack the flags today on the par 5s. His wedge touch was fantastic. Even in rehearsal, he really is a polished act…

Cink: Was drilling the driver. Very smooth swing. Gave equal time to all his irons and was hitting his woods with equal precision. From the angle I was at, I couldn’t see if he was drawing the ball or hitting a fade, but it was travelling all the same…

McIlroy: Focused for quite a while on his mid-to-long irons. His ball-striking looks to be in top shape. He was hitting the 4-iron into the par-5 13th in practice and looks to be sticking to his guns there. Short game didn’t look too bad…

Woosnam: Looks so laid back and in control still, and he can really move it. Consistently put his wedges to within feet (it seemed) of the pin. Long irons also looked good. Didn’t see him hit the big stick… (Still started with a double bogey though.)

Kim: Looks to choke down on the driver, but still gives it a whack. Wedge and iron play very smooth. Needs something special to get back into it though…

Ishikawa: Spent an age hitting what looked to be a 7-iron to one of the flags on the left-hand side - big high draw and a lovely swing.

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