Course Of Action

Perhaps Robert Trent Jones Golf Club, site of three previous Presidents Cups, is a possibility. Pros approve of the course, but Woods does not speak of it with anything approaching his near-reverence for Congressional. At the moment, none of these scheduling problems and venue debates constitute a hostile conflict, merely a challenge to which everyone involved desires a solution in the wake of this week's success.

"This has been an unbelievable event. It felt like a mini-major out there because of the course, Tiger as the host and the [strong] field," runner-up Steve Stricker said. "Put all that together and you had a great-feeling tournament, run really well. Add the twist of the Fourth of July and all the military around -- it was great. I'll be back."

So will even more of golf's top stars.

Initial reaction at Congressional has been quite positive to the Woods brand.

"He isn't the 800-pound gorilla in golf. He's the 10,000-pound gorilla," one influential member said. Some in the club would appreciate it if Woods could use his vast influence in the game to make sure that, if Congressional welcomes his event frequently, it will not hurt the club's future chances to hold world-class events such as the U.S. Open or even a Ryder Cup.

"I don't know how much pull I have with the PGA of America," which controls the Ryder Cup, Woods said. "I lobbied for Mark O'Meara [to be captain], and you see how much good that did him."

This week, in every aspect of this audition that he could control, Woods tried to top all rivals.

"Tiger, this week's trophy is a lot heavier than Jack's trophy," said Choi, who won Woods's and Nicklaus's signature events this year.

The future of this tournament, beyond a return to Congressional next year, may be murky, though it is difficult to imagine that Woods -- like Nicklaus and Palmer before him -- won't end up getting some approximation of his heart's desire. For now, this is the time to appreciate an event that went off with few hitches unless you count Choi's lugubrious pace of play.

Perhaps Sunday's biggest surprise was the level of enthusiasm from a crowd that never had a Tiger charge to celebrate. Early in the day, as third-round leader Stuart Appleby collapsed, the front nine erupted with one Woods-size birdie cheer after another. Yet, Woods made no birdies, and two bogeys, in that span. The crowd was simply so large that it fed on its own enthusiasm and embraced new contenders -- including Choi, Stricker, Robert Allenby and Jim Furyk at various points, as they moved up the leader board.

Woods heard those explosions, too, and even ventured, perhaps a bit enthusiastically, that the day's atmosphere was not too far inferior to the '02 U.S. Open at Bethpage Black, the benchmark for bedlam in recent golf memory.

"We're just going to keep making this event better," Woods said of his infant tournament. Already, Elin wants to come next year. How about Sam Alexis, too?

"Can babies come to golf tournaments?" Tiger wondered. "I don't know. I'm new to all of this."

But doing just fine, so far.