Tiger Woods arrived on Sunday to the Augusta National Golf Club with a great deal of speculation behind him. The Masters will be the first tournament in which Woods participates since last November, when he won the Australian Masters.

Since then, Tiger has been bogged down by a series of scandals that seemed to leave him out of major tournaments indefinitely, ended several sponsorship contracts, and left him time to think about his personal behavior. One month ago, however, he announced he was planning a comeback at the Augusta Masters.

Tiger began practice at the golf club along with his competitors, some of the top players in golf – all of them preparing for one of the most important tournaments on the PGA Tour.

Tiger is looking to wear the green jacket on Sunday for the fifth time in his career. The last time he won the Augusta Masters was in 2005; his previous wins were in 1997, 2001, and 2002.

Woods was paired with KJ Choi and Matt Kuchar in the second-to-last group; the trio is schedules to have its opening shots at 10:35 am on Friday. Both Kuchar and Choi have said that it is great to be paired with Tiger; Choi stated that he is used to playing with Woods, while Kuchar said that the Masters is the ideal place to be playing with Woods, as the crow is huge.

Padraig Harrington also gave his input as to being paired with one of golf’s greatest, if currently fallen, champions. Harrington explained that it was never easy to be paired with Woods; the stress and the focus on Tiger can create a difficult tournament environment. He also added that what really mattered would be the weekend – the golfers would all have to be prepared for a very challenging event.

Masters chairman Billy Payne received Tiger Woods on Sunday afternoon, not long after Tiger arrived to prepare himself for the event. Payne gave no details about the meeting, but after his statement during a press conference on Wednesday, it was clear that Tiger’s behavior was on everyone’s lips.

Payne said he thought everyone deserved an opportunity to change, although he suggested the disappointment Woods had incurred as a model to others.

"Is there a way forward? I hope yes. I think yes," Payne said. "But certainly, his future will never again be measured only by his performance against par, but measured by the sincerity of his efforts to change."I hope he now realizes that every kid he passes on the course wants his swing but would settle for his smile," he said.

The Masters has raised expectations for everyone in the world of golf. Questions about Tiger’s physical fitness will be answered as the weekend progresses. The golfer’s state of readiness also raises eyebrows for the other competitors, who don’t know what to expect as Woods hasn’t played in five months.

Along with Woods, Jack Nicklaus makes a slightly quieter reappearance in golf at the Masters.

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Audrey Nolan is a top senior copy writer on Golf games and sports action for the sportsbetting . Feel free to reprint this article in its entirety on your site, make sure to leave all links in place and do not modify any of the content.