• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, April 12, 2005

TV sports programmers haven't had much good news recently - what with the absence of the NHL and still lackluster NBA ratings.

Now, just when you thought Tiger Woods was finally going to become just a great, average golf player, he not only finds his stroke but some drama at the CBS "Masters" golf event.

Getting out of a major tournament slump in a big way, Tiger Woods won his fourth Masters on Sunday. No, it wasn't one of his dominant victories - not by 15, 20, or 25 strokes. He won by one stroke.

This was a dramatic affair. For instance, he bogeyed the last two holes of the tournament after getting the lead. But the major drama happened two holes earlier. His right-turning chip shot on the 16th, rolled unexpectedly toward the hole, and then - for more drama - stopped, hung on the edge of the cup, and slowly dropped in.

There was a big product placement reward here. It wasn't with some logoed-baseball hat or shirt Woods was wearing; it was the ball itself. When hanging on the edge, viewers got a close up of the Nike swoosh on the golf ball - a scene that was replayed over and over on sports news shows on Sunday and Monday.

No, this wasn't part of a planned branded entertainment deal.

Nike's logo was already widely seen in many golf products and clothing during the event, but this was an unexpected bonus. During the last half-hour of the show, Nielsen ratings rose to a 15.5/27.

Overall, the event averaged a 10.3/21 - the best ratings for "The Masters" in three years. A similar dramatic ending sans Wood would not have had the response with viewers.

Too bad CBS can't sell more advertisers in this event. Augusta National golf club only allows four minutes of advertising an hour for CBS to sell. This year's advertisers included IBM, SBC Communications, and ExxonMobil.

Now that's a great golf venue. To some it's even greater still that it won't accept women as members.

The Augusta golf club has so much money -- as well as programming leverage with CBS -- that for the last two years it decided not to allow any TV advertising. (No doubt, it made up the financial difference to CBS.) It didn't want TV advertisers to feel the brunt of protests concerning its all-male club requirement.

Ah. The South. Trying to preserve those gentile conditions for a nostalgic, bygone era. Doesn't the head of the golf club have one of those nostalgic names, Hootie, I believe? Isn't its favorite ballroom-cufflinks-and-cologne band Hootie and the Blowfish?

No matter. Not when ratings was the story, and almost entirely due to Tiger Woods. Now if only ABC could get Michael Jordan back on some team by the time the NBA Finals arrive.