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• Miguel Angel Jimenez is why we love golf.

At 10 a.m. Monday, the pony-tailed Spaniard took a cigar out of his pocket, lit it and puffed away while launching drive after drive from the practice tee. In between puffs, Jimenez gingerly laid his stogie onto a holder set at his feet, which — from our standpoint — looked like a hollowed-out golf ball.

Jimenez is not all cigar breaks and range balls, however. He remains a professional athlete. Jimenez munched on an apple while playing his practice round.

• We spotted UA football coach Mike Stoops near the practice tees Monday, nurturing his favorite non-gridiron hobby.

Stoops, an avid golfer, is in much better shape this time around. Stoops was slowed by back surgery a year ago and was in obvious pain throughout the tournament.

• Last year's WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship victory did not change Henrik Stenson. Stenson remained on the practice tees well into the evening on Monday, working on his swing with caddie Fanny Sunneson. Stenson defeated Geoff Ogilvy to win last year's Match Play, the first held in Arizona.

• Jeff Mann, a 39-year-old fan from Phoenix, gaped as he watched Tiger Woods boom a mammoth 365-yard drive on the 13th hole. Then he became disheartened.

"This is why I don't watch Tiger play," Mann said, verbalizing what we're all thinking. "What's the point of trying to compare your game with that? It's downhill, sure, but 365?"

Mann drove from Phoenix to study golf swings but may go home to a new hobby.

"I'm going to find a different game," Mann said, still shaking his head in disbelief.

• The best part about arriving for the practice rounds? First crack at the tournament shop.

The Match Play tournament shop was stocked with all kinds of T-shirts, hats, golf shirts and rain jackets Monday — at least for the first few hours. Nike remains our favorite brand of tournament gear: Fans can buy a Tiger Woods brand golf hat, complete with a Match Play logo on the side, for $30. Dri-Fit golf shirts run about $75, though there are many selections. Ashworth, Greg Norman and Cutter and Buck are also selling shirts for similar prices.

Forget a Sharpie? The PGA Tour has you covered, for $2.

• Nothing beats professional golf when it comes to free stuff.

Players who arrived at The Gallery on Monday received a WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship backpack filled with the golf balls of their choosing. Players grabbed their brands from a table marked with the names of famous equipment companies: Callaway, Titleist, Nike and others.

• Trudie Murray, 65, and Bill Parker, 67, sat for two hours at the practice range Monday morning, marveling at the world's top players. Their swings were a hot topic of conversation.

"You wonder how they hit it so far, because it looks like they're barely swinging," Murray said.

"Ahh, it's something beautiful to watch," Parker cooed. "I don't know if I can translate it to my game, but it sure gave me some good ideas."

When Tiger Woods arrived to hit balls, the fans in the stands crowded close to the rail.

"You almost feel bad for the other players with all the attention and excitement Tiger commands, but they all seemed to be smiling and joking with him," Murray said.

Murray lives at nearby Heritage Highlands, while Parker — doing his best snowbird impression — is visiting from Saskatchewan.

• Sergio Garcia wore a powder-blue hat and matching pants for Monday's practice round — and completely fit in.

• We did a double take when we first saw Brandt Snedeker hit the practice range. The 27-year-old rising star looks just like White Sox outfielder Brian Anderson, a UA alum.

• Anyone can follow Tiger Woods and critique his swing.

We reviewed Gatorade Tiger.

The new sports drink featuring Woods' name and likeness was on hand Monday at The Gallery Golf Club.

Woods' lemon-lime flavor, officially called "cool fusion" tasted kind of like watered-down Gatorade, but with a nice citrus-y tang.

The drink is available on shelves throughout Tucson — we found a bottle at our West Side Albertsons — but it won't be launched nationally until next month. Woods is the first athlete to have his own line of beverages under the Gatorade name. Woods' contract, signed last fall, is estimated to be worth about $100 million over five years. Tiger helped design the beverage; he spent time at the Gatorade Sports Science Institute — yes, it exists — where scientists studied his hydration and energy needs.

• The first day of Match Play practice went off without a hitch, in part because of the changes made to streamline traffic flow and shorten bathroom lines.

Fans who arrived at Monday's practice rounds were directed to one of 12 parking lots surrounding the course and nearby Dove Mountain Boulevard. Bathrooms were plentiful and lines were short.

Tournament chairman Michael Garten told the Star that tournament officials "learned a lot last year," when traffic snarls and long lines marred the first few days of the event.

Tournament officials have since added 250 parking spaces at nearby Heritage Highlands, moved the volunteer workers' parking lot away from general parking, added port-a-johns, concession stands and more shuttles to and from the course. Will-call has been moved to the less-congested Bashas' shopping center at the corner of Tangerine Road and Dove Mountain Boulevard.

So far, it works.