The scene was surreal, which has become a common enough occurrence whenever Tiger Woods is around, writes Philip Reid in Jacksonville.
Tuesday morning, the clock ticking its way towards 8.50 a.m., and three greenkeepers are frantically mowing the grass on the 18th green of the TPC course at Sawgrass, sucking the dew off the putting surface and ensuring everything is pristine for the world's number one golfer.
Some 160 yards away, back down the fairway, Woods and Notah Begay III approach their balls as the busy workmen try to finish their tasks. Two manage to do so, but one - entrusted with mowing the top corner of the tiered-green - is still mowing, his machine humming in an otherwise silent world, as the players decide to hit their approach shots anyway. Both balls find the green, closer to the flag than to the workman. Of the two, Woods is closest to the hole, which is nothing new. He doesn't even putt out, opting instead to push tee pegs into the ground where tournament positions will be. Ahead of the posse again!
A few minutes later, Woods strolls purposely to the back of the grandstand on the 18th. He's ready to talk. His face is more drawn than normal, the result of a few days fighting the effects of food poisoning, and his eyes don't have their usual sparkle. But he is back in tournament mode, chasing another title. On Sunday, two days previously, he'd captured the Bay Hill Invitational for a fourth successive time. The winning margin: 11 shots. If he's that good when he's ill, how good can he be? "I'd like to find out," he replied.
Getting out on to the course shortly after dawn and playing nine holes, his work done before most other players even arrive at the course, is Woods' idea of taking it easy. The soft option of staying away for another day, allowing his body to recuperate, isn't the Woods way. He made the road trip from Orlando the previous night, "just to spread things out a bit. I'm still not quite there yet, this illness is lingering a little bit. If I can get just a little stronger, I'll be alright."
Sick or not, Woods is a phenomenon who just keeps raising the bar. His win in Bay Hill was the third title he has picked up in four appearances this season. What makes it all the more remarkable is that he has achieved such a strike-rate after his longest ever lay-off - nine weeks, during which time he underwent knee surgery - from tournament play. But, then, winning to Woods is what the game is all about.
"I'm surprised I found the flow for the game so quickly because I wasn't able to practise as much as I wanted to. I had a stringent ball cap for a long time, and that was frustrating for me when I'm used to being able to hit as many balls as I want to. To be not able to do that and only hit certain clubs was frustrating.
But I found the groove again and, once I got back into the swings of things, I was able to pick it up and remember how to do it."
In the debate on whether or not the Players' should be upgraded to a major, Woods doesn't utter the words that the US PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem would like to hear. Instead, Woods leans on the side of tradition. "I think the Players' is probably the highest tournament in the world next to the majors, (but) I don't think it ranks up there in the majors category now. I think it is one step below, but it is the highest tournament besides the majors." He added: "I don't think it is for us, the players, to say if this should be a major. I believe it is for the governors of the game, the R&A, the US GA, and the PGA of America, to decide if it should be a major. There's just so much history behind the other ones.
"It's not our decision, it's one for the governing bodies who make up the rules for us to play and it is up to them."
A decision to upgrade the Players', making it a fifth major, would also lead to rescheduling problems on the tour - given that its current slot two weeks before the Masters is simply too close time-wise - and also lead to further problems in terms of assessing how many majors a player has won.
Given that Jack Nicklaus is a three-time winner of the Players', would that mean that, retroactively, he would then have 21 rather 18 major titles?
Woods's reluctance to get behind any moves to upgrade the Players' to a major, however, has probably halted it steamrolling out of control.
The world's number one has more power than anyone, and if he is reluctant to put his weight behind the move, then that, effectively, is that - for the present.
Ernie Els, meanwhile, has been forced out of the tournament after injuring his hand when using a punch bag in training.
"Obviously I'm disappointed, it is one of the premier tournaments of the season," said Els, "but my hand is just so sore that there is no way I could play."
The tournament, though, remains a highly prized one and even the withdrawal of Els, the world's number two, and Phil Mickelson - whose wife Amy had the couple's third child on Sunday night - won't make it easier to win for anyone.
And that includes Woods, a player who was suffering from food poisoning at Bay Hill but still managed to turn a five-shot lead into an 11-shot winning margin.
How good would his game be if he wasn't ill? "I don't know, (but) I would like to feel healthy again, I'll tell you that. I'd like not to be going through what I'm going through right now."
The tummy trouble proves one thing, however, and that is that Woods is only human. It's for the other 145 players in the field to realise that.
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Championship: The pairings
The draw for first and second rounds (all times Irish) US unless stated (Irish in bold).
ROUND 1 (FIRST TEE), ROUND 2 (10TH TEE)
12.00 (4.45) - S Flesch, R Gamez, S Kendall.
12.10 (4.55) - D Hart, S Cink, K Triplett.
12.20 (5.05) - G Day, S Ames (Trin), J Sindelar.
12.30 (5.15) - J Furyk, J Parnevik (Swe), J Edwards.
12.40 (5.25) - D Gossett, T Woods, D Forsman.
12.50 (5.35) - T Pernice Jr, L Mattiace, F Allem (SA).
1.00 (5.45) - C DiMarco, R Mediate, J Byrd.
1.10 (5.55) - R Goosen (SA), G Sauers, B Faxon.
1.20 (6.05) - S Appleby (Aus), S Verplank, G Norman (Aus).
1.30 (6.15) - J Coceres (Arg), C Parry (Aus), S Lowery.
1.40 (6.25) - T Herron, H Frazar, B Geiberger.
1.50 (6.35) - C Campbell, P Lonard, D Peoples.
4.45 (12.00) - JL Lewis, M Campbell (NZ).
4.55 (12.10) - S Leaney (NZ), G Chalmers (Aus), D Berganio.
5.05 (12.20) - C Paulson, G Ogilvy (Aus), J Senden (Aus).
5.15 (12.30) - M Kuchar, K Sutherland, J Sluman.
5.25 (12.40) - B Burns, L Janzen, C Howell.
5.35 (12.50) - J Kelly, B Estes, C Smith.
5.45 (1.00) - V Singh (Fij), D Love, C Perks (NZ).
5.55 (1.10) - C Pavin, S Maruyama (Jp), JM Olazabal (Sp).
6.05 (8.20) - D Toms, N Begay, KJ Choi (Kor).
6.15 (1.30) - J Huston, L Donald (Eng), M Brooks.
6.25 (1.40) - C Barlow, P HARRINGTON, D Waldorf.
6.35 (1.50) - T Clark, PU Johansson (Swe), R Sabbatini (SA).
6.45 (2.00) - N Fasth (Swe), C Franco (Par), A Magee.
ROUND 1 (10TH TEE), ROUND 2 (FIRST TEE)
12.00 (4.45) - J Kaye, G Hnatiuk (Can), O Browne.
12.10 (4.55) - E Romero (Arg), S Micheel, B Andrade.
12.20 (5.05) - J Haas, B Tway, B Crane.
12.30 (5.15) - S Elkington (Aus), M Calcavecchia, S Garcia (Sp).
12.40 (5.25) - C Riley, R Allenby (Aus), J Daly.
12.50 (5.35) - D Duval, D CLARKE, G Willis.
1.00 (5.45) - M Weir (Can), N Price (Zim), S Stricker.
1.10 (5.55) - S Hoch, P Lawrie (Scot), R Damron.
1.20 (6.05) - I Leggatt (Can), JP Hayes, M Gogel.
1.30 (6.15) - R Beem, S McRoy, F Lickliter.
1.40 (6.25) - T Immelman (SA), P Stankowski, H Tanaka (Jp).
1.50 (6.35) - J Maggert , R Pampling (Aus), T Levet (Fr).
4.45 (12.00) - T Byrum, C Montgomerie (Scot), B Gay.
4.55 (12.10) - A Cabrera (Arg), J Carter, B Jobe.
5.05 (12.20) - E Toledo (Mex), JJ Henry, B Mayfair.
5.15 (12.30) - L Roberts, P Azinger, J Leonard.
5.25 (12.40) - F Funk, B Langer (Ger), J Durant.
5.35 (12.50) - K Perry, F Couples, T Lehman.
5.45 (1.00) - S Jones, J Rollins, M O'Meara.
5.55 (1.10) - P Tataurangi (NZ), J Cook, H Sutton.
6.05 (8.20) - N Faldo (Eng), S McCarron, C Beckman.
6.15 (1.30) -. P Bates, J Rose (Eng), P Perez.
6.25 (1.40) - T Petrovic, A Scott (Aus), H Slocum.
6.35 (1.50) - J Williamson, N Lancaster, B Baird.
