And this is just the beginning

ON THE bleak, war torn fields of Indonesia a quarter of a century ago, a Green Beret in the US army had a dream. Fighting alongside a South Vietnamese ally, who carried the sobriquet of Tiger, Earl Woods decided that if he ever had a son, the boy would be named after his Asian friend.

Later, Woods returned to the US with a Thai wife, Kultida. And on December 30th, 1975, they had a son whom the mother called Eldrick. True tub his dream, however, Earl insisted on adding the nickname of his old comrade.

So started the life in Cypress, California, of a player who is set to become the outstanding golfer of his generation. Indeed, his talent is such that sometime in the next century golf historians will probably be arguing: whether Bobby Jones, Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus or Tiger Woods was the greatest player the game has seen.

And he has only recently come of age. "The public won't let me act like a 21 year old man," he complained to Arnold Palmer, who simply smiled in response. No doubt Palmer's mind flashed back 40 years to his first endorsement bonus of $5,000 and how modest it now seemed compared with the $60 million contracts signed by Woods.

Eventually, Palmer said to his young colleague: "How many 21 year olds are in the position that Tiger Woods is in? Hey, that's the price you must pay for the position you're in, whether it be financially or as a champion. There has to be a penalty somewhere for all the nice things that happen to you."

After Woods turned professional last August, it took him only a short while to recognise those penalties. Out came an advertisement from his main sponsor, Nike, with the highly controversial assertion that this three time US Amateur champion could not play certain courses in his native country, "because of the colour of my skin".

There were howls of protest from the American media and the advertisement was pulled. A month later, pleading tiredness. Woods thumbed his nose at the Fred Haskins Award, given annually to the top college golfer. Further howls were followed by a change of heart Woods accepted the award several months later.

Then, most recently, there was an eight page story in GQ, an up market, glossy American men's magazine. It created another media storm over here, largely because of some decidedly tasteless jokes and uncomplimentary references to the opposite sex, attributed to Woods.

The front page of the magazine carries a photograph of Woods as the regular young business executive in a grey, single breasted suit, grey silk tie and white shirt. Printed on it is "The coming of Tiger Woods, sport's next Messiah."

Having read the piece, I can well understand how it would have hit some raw nerves. There was further criticism of the fact that instead of making a public apology for the contents of the article, Woods bristled, claiming that the driver of the limousine in which the alleged remarks were made had surreptitiously taped this off the record material.

Meanwhile, Earl continued to supply the smoke and laser lights for the Tiger Woods experience, even to the extent of some decidedly odd outpourings. Such as his claim in sports frustrated a few months ago that his son "will do more than any other man in history to change the course of humanity". As one US observer remarked: "Such talk invited derision. Such talk always comes back to haunt."

It is also felt that Woods hasn't been helped by his handlers in the International Management Group, who paid CBS for the one hour "infomercial" cum hagiography, Tiger which was transmitted over here yesterday afternoon, before live coverage of the final holes began.

All of that, for the most part, is on the debit side of the Woods account. But the credit side is extremely formidable. AS Tom Watson said over the weekend "He's a boy amongst men and he's showing the men how to play. He may be the type of player who only comes around once in a millennium."

The talent is huge. Now, with a US Masters and three US Amateur titles to his credit, comparisons with the young Nicklaus are inevitable and entirely valid. The legendary Bernard Darwin described the embryonic Bear, "As a tremendous player of the future who hits the ball, in the old phrase, like a kicking horse." Sound familiar?

And after Palmer had won the 1960 US Open at Cherry Hills, Hogan, who played with Nicklaus over the last two rounds, said: "The kid should have won this thing by 10 shots. I find him to be a terrific player. I was impressed by his controlled power and wonderful concentration." Sound familiar?

The general view here this weekend was that for Woods to dominate the way Palmer and Nicklaus did, he couldn't have made a better start than by capturing the Masters. Apart from being a celebration of spring in a magical setting, thee Masters is a demanding test of talent and nerve beautiful for spectators, treacherous for players.

A week after Tiger's 16th birthday, Earl Woods arranged a few holes of golf with Greg Norman. The father took the view that it was critical for his son to see how the best golfers in the world handled themselves. He wanted his son to see a man at work.

They met at Old Marsh GC, near Norman's home in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. There, the Shark had the unsettling experience of seeing the 10 stone stripling outdrive him, comfortably. At a certain par five, Tiger hit a two iron second shot to 25 feet, just as he did to the uphill, 535 yard eighth here on Saturday.

Startled, Norman put away his three wood and took out his two iron - and managed to get inside the youngster's ball. Ostensibly it was fun, but Earl Woods had other ideas.

So, it is no coincidence that Tiger is currently being managed by IMG's Hughes Norton, who built a fortune for Norman during the 1980s, before the Shark broke away to look after his own interests.