Tiger: "My club-head speed may be faster back then but the ball didn't go as far."

Martin Blake on Tiger's first round at Royal Melbourne since 1998 when he was not as much of a gym rat as he is now:

Thirteen years have passed since Woods, 22 and one major championship win into his career, was the young man on the US team at the 1998 Presidents Cup in Melbourne. Now, 14 major wins into his career, he says he is vastly different player.

''I hit the ball a lot further now than I did in '98,'' he said. ''That's just the technology. The golf ball is going so much further than it did back then. My club-head speed may be faster back then but the ball didn't go as far.

''I have way more shots … and a much better understanding of how to map out a golf course and how to play myself around a golf course.''