When Tiger Woods talked about the state his game on Tuesday, he said that controlling the distances of his irons is a sign that he's close to getting his feel back. If that's the case, Woods has to be happy with his practice round Thursday morning.

Woods played the back nine Wednesday in a 7 a.m. practice round with his Orlando neighbor Arjun Atwul and Joseph Bramlett, an amateur who just graduated from Stanford, Woods's alma mater. (Yes, Bramlett's having a pretty cool Senior Week.)

Woods clearly enjoyed Atwul's company, and the two were joking and smiling while walking the fairways together. Woods also appeared much more comfortable with his game. He found the fairway often off the tee -- on the shorter par 4s like 15 and 16 where he can hit 3-wood, he was right down the center with his tee shots. His approach shots were often pin-high and within birdie range, and he spent extra time on the greens putting to different locations.

His iron play looked sharp, especially on the 208-yard par-3 17th, which plays straight into the Pacific. He got into trouble with his driver on 18, Pebble Beach's famous risk-reward par-5, but his recovery was vintage Woods. After pushing his drive right into a fairway bunker, Woods punched out about 20 yards forward. Then he took a 2-iron and hit a stinger that traveled about 240 yards to land on the green about 30 feet left of the hole.

Even at 7 a.m. the galleries were thick during Woods's round, but the crowds were subdued, with little of the cheering and shouts of encouragement Woods received at the Masters. Woods did not speak to reporters after the round. He tees off at 4:36 p.m. EST on Thursday for his first round in a marquee Open pairing with Lee Westwood and Ernie Els. The same group tees off in the second round at 11:06 a.m. EST on Friday.

On Tuesday, Woods said he was looking forward to playing with Westwood and Els.

"I got a great pairing this week," Woods said. "Seems like I get Westy every major championship though. But it's neat to have Ernie in the group. I think we're going to have a good time."