The rest was usual fare, largely. Tiger Woods received a hero's treatment, hogged headlines and head count, set a course record, won a golf tournament by 10 strokes, prompted envy, and multiplied the legend and the portfolio. After his jet lag lifted in the oppressive heat of Indochina, his timing was off only as it pertained to an Eastern calendar. As usual, he was ahead of his time. It says here that 1998 is the Year of the Tiger.
Fame can leap time zones rapidly.
Even halfway around the globe Tiger Woods can't seem to hide. Rings of traditional Thai garlands were draped around his neck and arms. Thai television stations carried the arrival live, as they did last year for the landings of England's Queen Elizabeth and President Clinton, but not for Somluck Kamsing, Thailand's first Olympic gold medalist. Woods was pictured atop the Bangkok Post's front page the next two days and was the lead sports story daily. Another publication went so far as to say the hyperbole surrounding Woods' trip was matched in recent years only by the appearance of one particular eccentric American pop star.