I am responding to Darren Kilfara's piece entitled "A Tiger Primer: What Did and Didn't Happen at the Masters" (April 16). While Mr. Kilfara's original premise to temper Tigermania was sound, his attempt to diminish young Mr. Woods' accomplishments was unfounded.

In his first appearance in a Major as a professional, Woods exceeds all expectations, expectations that are exceedingly high. I, too, tuned into the Masters, as I do every year, Mr. Kilfara. Woods ran away from the greatest field in the world and broke the long standing tournament records posted by two of golf's greatest legends, Jack Nicklaus and Raymond Floyd. In Mr. Kilfara's eyes, "Tiger played mediocre golf for most of Sunday's final round." I rebut: an aggregate 69, three under par, on Sunday at Augusta National in front of the largest gallery and television audience in history is nothing short of amazing. Sorry he bored you, Darren. Perhaps Sunday collapses like Greg Norman's atrocious golf last year are more to your fancy.

What history holds for Tiger I cannot predict, but what happened Sunday, in the eyes of any sports historian, was a benchmark for the ages. --Peter J. Atkinson   17 Handicap