The Month in Golf : Highlights

THE MASTERS: All eyes--and television sets--will be on Tiger Woods during Masters week. Can he dethrone Vijay Singh (right, with Jose Maria Olazabal) and win his fourth straight major? Even if he does, Woods will have trouble driving ratings to heights reached in the 1970s. Woods' highest rated triumph--the 1997 Masters, which earned a 14.1 Nielsen rating--is only the fifth-highest rating for a golf broadcast (see the chart at left in Extra holes). Four West Coast events from the 1970s achieved a higher rating. The top two, the '71 Crosby (which earned a 19.2 rating) and the '76 Phoenix Open had exceptional lead-ins: Super Bowls. CBS' dream scenario for Masters week? A battle for the lead Sun-day afternoon, with Woods prevailing again.

MARCH 22-25

THE PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP: The TPC at Sawgrass will have its traditional strong PGA Tour field, plus the best from tours outside the U.S. Should a European player like (clockwise from top left) Thomas Bjorn, Pierre Fulke, Jean Van de Velde or Jose Maria Olazabal win, he would face the same enticement Fulke did after finishing second at the World Match Play in January. The $1 million first-place check and accompanying five-year exemption is a powerful incentive to play the U.S. tour full-time. With more Europeans playing the PGA Tour (Darren Clarke is the latest), Sam Torrance's Ryder Cup wild-card options will get complicated.

APRIL 5-8

HOOTERS GREENSBORO CLASSIC:

Couldn't score a Masters badge? Head to Greensboro, N.C. Plenty of tickets are available for the Hooters Tour event there--one of the few events to run the same week as the Masters. The Senior, LPGA and Buy.com tours are all off.

APRIL 12-15

THE COUNTRYWIDE TRADITION: The Tradition has always produced fine champions--including Nicklaus, Trevino and Tom Kite (right). But the weather hasn't cooperated. Snow shortened the '99 event, and temperatures barely reached 50 last year--in Arizona.

MARCH 22-25

THE NABISCO CHAMPIONSHIP: Woods is going for his non-calendar slam--four majors in a row--but Karrie Webb's accomplishments trail only slightly. At Mission Hills, she has a chance for her third win in the last five women's majors.