Associated Press
Tuesday, June 20

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. -- From record TV ratings to praise by his awe-struck competitors, Tiger Woods has clearly moved into territory claimed by few stars in any sport.

"We've had two athletes in my time -- Muhammad Ali and Jordan -- that draw fans from outside their sport," said Dick Ebersol, president of NBC Sports. "Every indicator we have says Tiger is the next one."

Certainly that was the case at the U.S. Open, where Woods won by a record 15 strokes in a performance that sent television ratings soaring.

	With the way he hits a golf ball, life looks like a beach for Tiger Woods.

NBC's coverage of the final two rounds of the tournament drew an average overnight rating of 7.5 with an 18 share, according to numbers released Monday by Nielsen Media Research, the highest two-day average for the Open since overnights were instituted in 1975.

The overnight numbers showed an increase of 14 percent over last year's 6.6. Sunday's fourth round recorded an overnight mark of 8.8, a gain of 11 percent from 1999's 7.9.

Next month, Woods heads for Scotland -- the home of golf -- and will try to complete a career Grand Slam at the British Open at St. Andrews.

Woods will be an abiding favorite and invariably will raise questions about whether courses can be "Tiger-proofed" to keep tournaments competitive.

"You can't stop him by tricking up the course," said Michael Bonallack, who retired last year as secretary of the Royal & Ancient Golf Club. "What purpose would that serve? He's already proven he's the only one who could handle this place."

Woods' victory Sunday at Pebble Beach gave him his third major in only his fourth year of professional golf. That's one fewer than it took Jack Nicklaus.

It was the most lopsided victory in major tournament history, with Ernie Els and Miguel Angel Jimenez tied for second.

He tied the U.S. Open scoring record of 272, set at par-70 Baltusrol by Nicklaus in 1980 and Lee Janzen in 1993, and broke the record in relation to par, 12-under.

"It's kind of like Texas in the old Southwest Conference," former Longhorn Tom Kite said, referring to the football team. "You knew who was going to win before the game. It's certainly fun when you're pulling for Texas, but it's not real exciting for everybody else."

Searching other sports for comparisons were commonplace over the weekend, with Michael Jordan's name coming up more than once.

"Everybody was looking for the next Michael and they were always looking on the basketball court," Nike chairman Phil Knight said. "He was walking down the fairway."