The Harris Poll® #20, April 9, 2003

How Good Is Woods?

Not the Best Golfer Ever But One of the Best; Probably Better Than ______by Humphrey Taylor

As the world’s best golfers prepare for the 2003 Masters Tournament at the Augusta National , Harris Interactive® has asked the public, and those who follow and play golf, just how good they think is and how they feel about the club’s controversial rule of not allowing women members.

Most people (65%) think that Tiger Woods is “one of the best golfers ever.” Even larger majorities (75%) of those who follow or play golf think this is how good he is. Only relatively few people – 10% of all adults and 16% of those who play golf – think he is “the best golfer ever;” but scarcely anyone believes he is “not as good as some other great golfers in the past.”

One of the greatest golfers of the past, even if he is still playing, is Jack Nicklaus; so we asked people who they thought would win “if Tiger Woods at his best played Jack Nicklaus at his best.” There is no consensus, but pluralities, particularly of those who play or follow golf, favor Tiger Woods. A 46% to 23% plurality of golfers thinks Woods would defeat Nicklaus, but most of these (41%) think the margin would be small. Substantial numbers of golfers think the game would be tied (14%) or say they just don’t know who would win (17%). Among those who follow golf, a somewhat larger plurality, 50% to 17%, favors Woods over Nicklaus.

This Harris Poll is based on a nationwide survey of 2,715 adults surveyed online between March 17 and 24, 2003, using the same methodology used by Harris Interactive to forecast the 2000 elections with great accuracy.

The Masters, the Augusta National and women members

In December last year, The Harris Poll® found that a 48% to 34% plurality of the public thought the Augusta National Golf Club was wrong not to allow women to be members of the club. Since then, hostility to the club’s ruling seems to have increased slightly. We now find that a 52% to 29% majority of the public thinks the club is wrong. This majority includes 60% of women but only a 44% plurality of men.

However, a 46% to 41% plurality of those who follow golf, and a 52% to 57% majority of those who play golf support the club’s decision.

Many people distinguish between a rule they think is wrong and the right of the club to make such a decision. A 50% to 36% plurality (down slightly from a 54% to 30% majority last December) supports the right of the club to make such a decision. Large majorities of golfers (by 70% to 23%) and those who follow golf (by 68% to 28%) feel this way.

Humphrey Taylor is the chairman of The Harris Poll®, Harris Interactive.

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TABLE 1 HOW GOOD A GOLFER IS TIGER WOODS? “Which one of the following do you think best describes Tiger Woods?”

Base: All Adults Follow Total Golf Play Golf % % % He is the best golfer ever 10 20 16 He is one of the best golfers ever 65 75 75 He is not as good as some other great golfers of the past 4 4 6 Don’t know 20 1 3

TABLE 2 WHO WOULD WIN IF NICKLAUS PLAYED WOODS, WHEN BOTH WERE AT THEIR BEST? “If Tiger Woods at his best played Jack Nicklaus at his best, who do you think would win?”

Base: All Adults Follow Total Golf Play Golf % % % Tiger Woods (NET) 33 50 46 Tiger Woods would win easily 9 10 5 Tiger Woods would win by a small margin 24 40 41 They would be tied 12 17 14 Jack Nicklaus (NET) 12 17 23 Jack Nicklaus would win by a small margin 9 15 19 Jack Nicklaus would win easily 3 2 4 Don’t know 43 16 17

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TABLE 3 AUGUSTA NATIONAL RIGHT OR WRONG NOT TO ADMIT WOMEN MEMBERS? “The is held each year at the Augusta National Golf Club, which does not admit women as members. Do you think they are right or wrong not to admit women members?”

Base: All Adults All Adults Sex Follow Play Dec. 2002 Now Male Female Golf Golf % % % % % % Right 34 29 38 21 46 52 Wrong 48 52 44 60 41 37 Don’t know 18 18 18 19 13 11

TABLE 4 SHOULD AUGUSTA NATIONAL HAVE THE RIGHT NOT TO ADMIT WOMEN MEMBERS? “Do you think that the Augusta National Golf Club should have the right not to accept women members?”

Base: All Adults All Adults Sex Follow Play Dec. 2002 Now Male Female Golf Golf % % % % % % Should have the right 54 50 64 36 65 70 Should not 30 36 24 46 28 23 Don’t know 16 14 12 17 7 7

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Methodology

The Harris Poll® was conducted online within the between March 17 and 24, 2003 among a nationwide cross section of 2,715 adults. Figures for age, sex, race, education and number of adults in the household were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. "Propensity score" weighting was also used to adjust for respondents’ propensity to be online.

In theory, with probability samples of this size, one could say with 95 percent certainty that the results in each country have a statistical precision of plus or minus three percentage points of what they would be if the entire adult population had been polled with complete accuracy. Unfortunately, there are several other possible sources of error in all polls or surveys that are probably more serious than theoretical calculations of sampling error. They include refusals to be interviewed (non-response), question wording and question order, and weighting. It is impossible to quantify the errors that may result from these factors. This online survey is not a probability sample.

These statements conform to the principles of disclosure of Council on Public Polls. ______W18441 Q670, Q675

COPYRIGHT 2003 CREATORS SYNDICATE, INC. ISSN 0895-7983

About Harris Interactive®

Harris Interactive (www.harrisinteractive.com) is a worldwide market research and consulting firm best known for The Harris Poll®, and for pioneering the Internet method to conduct scientifically accurate market research. Headquartered in Rochester, New York, U.S.A., Harris Interactive combines proprietary methodologies and technology with expertise in predictive, custom and strategic research. The Company conducts international research through wholly owned subsidiaries—London-based HI Europe (www.hieurope.com) and Tokyo-based Harris Interactive —as well as through the Harris Interactive Global Network of local market- and opinion-research firms, and various U.S. offices. EOE M/F/D/V

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Press Contacts:

Nancy Wong Harris Interactive 585-214-7316 [email protected]

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