Tiger Woods is back!

A NERVOUS Brendan Jones, looking every bit the underdog, walked across the putting green at Dove Mountain towards Tiger Woods and extended his hand.

"Good luck, mate," Jones said to the world's No1 player, probably knowing that fortune needed to flow the other way.

No one gave the Australian more than a Christian's chance in the Colosseum of surviving the most anticipated return in memory; most notoriously the American journalist who, as the pair teed off at the Match Play Championship yesterday, opined loudly that there were only nine holes to go for a 10&8 Woods victory.

"I gave him a bit of a spray," Jones, 33, said, although after Woods began majestically with a birdie and conceded eagle for a fast two-up lead, "I thought, well, maybe he's right."

Woods, who had been away from professional golf for eight months after a knee reconstruction, looked better than ever and the record will show that he won comfortably, 3&2, to progress to today's second-round match against Australian Open champion Tim Clark.

But the truth isn't quite as apparent. After his sublime beginning, Woods started missing irons to the right. On the par-three 3rd hole, Woods went into the sandtrap right of the green and left Jones the perfect opportunity to get back into the match. But Jones hit a simple chip thin, and could only match Woods' bogey.

Woods went on to make two more bogeys - on the 5th and 7th holes - but Jones only took advantage of one. He cut the deficit to one hole but immediately gave Woods a further cushion by not getting up-and-down on the par-five 8th. Woods kicked into gear again on the back nine and after a second eagle on the par-five 13th, Jones could only delay the inevitable.

In the end, Woods tapped in a short par putt on the par-three 16th after an exquisite bunker shot to seal the victory.

"When he got four-up with four to play, I told people that's where I wanted him, but it didn't work out that way," Jones joked. "I'm quite happy I didn't disgrace myself."

In that sense, Jones said he'd had nightmares about being embarrassed.

"I've been lying in bed each night thinking about if I do play Tiger, how is (it) going to be and it's always worse when you're in bed. You're always thinking the worst when you're lying in bed."

Woods was surprised with how quickly he got back into his routine. "It felt like nothing had changed, walking down the fairway, and it felt like business as usual," he said.

"I thought I would be more nervous on that first tee. It just came down to playing the game again, and that felt good."

Woods said his knee held up well although it was sore, as the doctors had told him it would be.

Woods did not putt very well but much of that was down to the speed of the greens. He said they were the slowest he'd ever played on the US Tour, but they are necessarily so because of the perilous slopes.

"If they had them to normal Tour speed, they would be unplayable," Woods said.

Of the eight Australians who began the tournament, only two remain, Geoff Ogilvy - a past champion - who needed 19 holes to down Kevin Sutherland, and Mathew Goggin, who upset American Kenny Perry, 2&1.

"More holes than I wanted to play after being two-up after 16, but I played a horrible shot on 17 and three-putted and then he made a great birdie on 18 and then I got let off the hook a little bit, he had a three-putt on 19," Ogivly said.

Rod Pampling was hammered 7&6, by Camilo Villegas, but the others all lost close matches. Adam Scott played well but was beaten one-up by rising star Sean O'Hair.

Stuart Appleby was poor all day but lipped out a birdie on the last which would have taken Germany's rising star Martin Kaymer to extra holes while Robert Allenby also lost one-up, to Ross Fisher.

Aaron Baddeley trailed England's Paul Casey all day.