Woods Is in His Prime

Big-time golf met prime-time television Monday night and the winner was Tiger Woods.

The No. 1 player in the world, Woods defeated No. 2 David Duval, 2 and 1, at Sherwood Country Club. It was great day for Woods, who won $1.1 million and not a bad one for Duval, who won $400,000.

Then again, it wasn’t a particularly good day for the PGA Tour.

The tour denied ABC permission to put microphones on the players, which was regarded by many as a somewhat curious decision since the PGA of America has been miking its players for its PGA Grand Slam of Golf for the last eight years.

Then there was the pants issue.

The tour refused to allow the two caddies to wear shorts, even though it was hot enough to melt a bunker rake. Steve Williams, Woods’ caddie, chose to defy the ban.

As a punishment, at the next tournament, Williams probably will have to stick Woods in his bag and carry him around too. There is no word whether this will be televised.