GOLF: Philip Reid discovered that if you want to go on the Tiger trail you must be patient - and quick

If you want to catch the tiger, you have to possess the patience of a hunter; and those who endured the long wait at Mount Juliet yesterday were eventually rewarded. But when he finally arrived, they also discovered it was important to be quick on their feet. Tiger Woods, the world's number one golfer, was not in the mood to hang around.

In their ones and twos, then in their tens and, ultimately, in their hundreds, they had started to gather behind the driving range early in the morning. They were left waiting. Tiger's plane had touched down in Cork in the chill of the morning, but he undertook the rest of his route by road, not by helicopter, which tends to be the desired mode of transport for men of his rank, and rested up in the five-star hotel before reappearing.

Still, they waited and waited, refusing to budge from their perches. A few trotted off after Phil Mickelson who, word filtered back, was burning up the course. Seven birdies in nine holes, they said. "Tuesday," tigerwatchers murmured of Mickelson's alleged birdie feast, "you don't take all your birdies on a Tuesday."

Just before midday, a gap appeared in the clouds and rays of sunshine broke through. It was a celestial moment, one that seemed to intimate that the chosen one's arrival was imminent. But there was to be no appearance from Tiger Woods on the course for a further two hours.

Promptly, at two o'clock, he appeared; and it was to start a mad dash in pursuit. He didn't stop at the practice range and, instead, headed directly to the first tee, where he set off alone - except for caddie Steve Williams, the army of minders and a few hundred spectators who had finally got their prey - to play the front nine.

Last Saturday night in Paris, a fellow-American, Tim Montgomery, had raced to a world record for 100 metres, recording a time of 9.78 for the sprint. Woods was not quite that fast; but he certainly burned a trail around the pristine course and played his way through a number of groups who were moving at a more leisurely pace.

On the fourth, Vijay Singh and Nick Price waited and hesitated, unsure if Woods was joining them. He played through.

"He's gone on ahead," said the Fijian. Price nodded, and then spoke to Woods and Williams. "You guys on the watch, or are you just out running?"

Woods took just an hour and 12 minutes to play the nine holes.

His on-course work finished for the day, Woods and caddie strutted down between the metal barriers that form a protective corridor from the back of the ninth green down to the practice range. There, he hit immaculate shot after immaculate shot. For 40 minutes. And then he moved down to the pitching area, for a further 10 minutes.

Work done, he headed for the putting green . . . and allowed some words to escape his lips as he travelled the 50 yards.

Back in July, before he played in the British Open at Muirfield, Woods had played a round at Mount Juliet, his eyes already moving ahead to the time in September when he would have to play a competitive round over the course that Jack Nicklaus designed. It struck him as odd that it was colder then, in what should have been the height of the Irish summer.

"It's warmer now than it was back then," commented Woods. "The greens were perfect then, as they are now. The rough wasn't as high. They were just starting to grow in the fairway lines. They're immaculate now. This course is very finely conditioned, as good as you will find any course in America."

With that, it was back to work; on the putting green. Woods, as he usually is in a tournament week, is here to win. The time for idle chat could wait for some other occasion.