Tiger Woods played a practice round at Augusta National Golf Club today to prepare for the Masters Tournament and a possible 14th major championship.

Woods, seeking his fifth Masters title, was among a handful of golfers at the course today, playing with U.S. PGA Tour veteran and 1998 champion Mark O'Meara. The gates open to spectators tomorrow and the season's first major tournament runs April 10-13.

Woods, 32, is coming off his longest pre-Masters tournament break since turning professional in 1997, skipping Tour stops in New Orleans and Houston over the last two weeks.

He said on his Web site that he chose not to visit the Augusta, Ga., course last week for an early practice round because there had been relatively few changes since last year's event. He tied for second at the 2007 Masters, two shots behind Zach Johnson.

"I know they removed some trees along the right side of No. 11; added 10 yards to the front of the first tee in case the wind blows; and tweaked the seventh and ninth greens," he said. "The bottom line: It's going to be long and difficult."

The world's top-ranked golfer had his seven-event winning streak snapped on March 24 with a fifth-place finish at the World Golf Championships-CA Championship in Miami.

A victory at Augusta would give Woods the chance to become the first player to win the modern, single-season Grand Slam, a feat he has discussed at length this year. Woods became the only player to hold all four major professional titles at the same time when he captured the 2000 U.S. and British Opens and the PGA Championship, then the Masters the following April.

Teeing off in the group before Woods and O'Meara today was Gary Player, who will play his 51st Masters this week, breaking the record he shares with Arnold Palmer.

Player, a three-time Masters winner and renowned fitness enthusiast, told reporters today that he wasn't entering the event to break Palmer's record but to send a different message.

"A 72-year-old can get out there and walk this course," said Player, who missed the cut last year with scores of 83 and 77, besting seven other golfers.