ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, April 15, 1997 TAG: 9704150061
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: JACK BOGACZYK
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK
For years, we've been hearing about all of those young lions on the PGA Tour.
A Tiger did what they haven't been able to do. In animal magnetism, not even ``the Golden Bear'' put his prints on Augusta National like this. Then, Tiger didn't go into the woods.
Tiger Woods is indeed a minority, and that's not a racial remark. CBS was hoping Woods would be coupled with Greg Norman passing Amen Corner during Sunday's final round of the Masters. Then, perhaps the network would have a large audience.
Woods was in contention only with himself, his competitors were left praying, and the network got what it wanted anyway. How many people at work Monday said they watched golf for the first time - ever, or in a long time - Sunday?
They weren't tuning in to view the azaleas. Tiger won a green jacket, and also earned his stripes with his first Grand Slam championship. His record performance grew in stature Monday.
The 31/2-hour telecast of the Masters on Sunday attracted the highest golf audience in history. In 36 major markets (the national ratings will be available today) CBS had a 15.8 Nielsen rating. That's a 74 percent hike from last year's final round. The only show that had a higher rating this weekend was ``60 Minutes.'' That's as unheard of as Woods' 18-under-par score.
The record had belonged to a Masters Monday playoff in 1966. That year, Jack Nicklaus defended his title by shooting a 70 in a three-way playoff with Tommy Jacobs (72) and Gay Brewer Jr. (78). That CBS telecast drew a 12.0 rating. It's a Titleist range ball compared with Sunday's 15.8, because there are many more U.S. homes with TV three decades later.
It was the combination of Woods and the Masters. The fact that Woods was finishing 29 shots ahead of Nicklaus only added to the audience. It sure wasn't the suspense.
``The guy is a true phenomenon,'' said USA Network executive Gordon Beck on Monday. ``He's a supernova. Here's a kid who truly has transcended the hype.''
Beck's network got a 33 percent bump on its 1996 Masters first- and second-round viewership with the addition of Woods. What Woods brought to the tube Sunday wasn't just an unprecedented audience. It was a broader one. His success can bring youth and minorities to golf viewership, not to mention already crowded courses.
Last week on a conference call with media, CBS telecast analyst Peter Kostis was asked about Woods' swing as it related to his potential for success at Augusta. Kostis said, ``the swing is fourth'' for Woods. ``More important are his head, heart and stomach, and they are incredibly superior for a [man of age] 21.''
Kostis also opined that Woods ``needs a little more experience around the greens before he's measured for his green jacket.''
Woods went out and drove the ball to the fringe, and then played Augusta's greens like a Myrtle Beach putt-putt layout with the windmills unplugged. Maybe it's easier when you're leaving spike marks all over decades of tradition and grandeur, but how Woods handled his victory was as appealing as his play. Woods did something so many other young golfers playing for dough just won't.
He smiled - repeatedly.
Woods may have the sage ``Fluff'' Cowan toting his bag, but Tiger now will be carrying something much heavier, those unrealistic expectations. People aren't talking about Woods in the Greater Greensboro Chrysler Classic, they're pointing toward Congressional Country Club and the U.S. Open, the next major.
As CBS producer Lance Barrow said last week, ``There are so many people interested in Tiger, it can't [do anything] but help people learn about the other guys.''
They just have to find a way to stay in contention. Arnold Palmer once had his ``Army.'' Among ``Tiger's Troops,'' there is a large legion that has been foreign to golf, too.
LENGTH: Medium: 79 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ASSOCIATED PRESS. Tiger Woods (left) spent part the dayby CNBafter his record Masters victory with actor Luke Perry at the
opening of an All-Star Cafe, in which both have a financial stake,
in Myrtle Beach, S.C. color.