Tiger Woods hopes the galleries in Melbourne next week will display a little more etiquette than his Chinese fans.

The sound of clicking cameras caused Woods to flinch on his opening tee shot in the first round at the $US7 million ($A7.68 million) HSBC Champions tournament on Thursday.

About 1,000 people spectators lined the hole on the Sheshan course to catch a glimpse of the world's best golfer and it seemed that every fan had a camera, or mobile phone, or both.

While professional photographers know not to make a noise until after a player has made contact with the ball, many fans displayed no such restraint.

They clicked away merrily on Woods' backswing and downswing and he wasn't too happy after spraying his drive into deep rough.

"Come on guys," shouted a frustrated Woods.

Things were a little quieter on the second hole, but Woods said afterwards that it took nearly half the round for the marshals to get the spectators under full control.

"The guy on the grandstand basically did almost a photo sequence (on the first tee)," Woods said after a five-under-par 67 that trailed leader Nick Watney by three strokes in the World Golf Championships event.

"I flinched on it and hit it to the right. There are certainly a lot of people out there and lot of people moving.

"We had to stay pretty focused, because there's so many people with cameras.

"The marshals did a pretty good job of helping us out and giving us an opportunity to play."

Woods knew what to expect from previous visits to China and thinks it will take a decade or two for things to change.

"There's no history yet," he said.

"The populous hasn't played golf long enough to understand (etiquette) and that takes time. Over time, they get experience with more people playing the game and understanding what it's about."

Woods hopes to avoid similar distractions at the Australian Masters at Kingston Heath next week, given that a fair percentage of the fans will be golfers themselves.