ANYONE who cares about golf would have cheered Tiger Woods' first win for five years from the proverbial rafters.

Woods hasn't just been arguably the best player the sport has seen, he has pretty much been the sport for the last 20 years as far as much of the public is concerned.

Golf, like many sports outside the likes of football in this country, American football in the USA and cricket in India, needs something, or someone, special to bring it to the notice of the wider public.

Woods was that someone.

He transcends the sport due to a combination of supreme talent and personality that add up to the X factor.

Usain Bolt, Paul Gascoigne, George Best and Ian Botham all had it and they, like Woods, appealed to people who had no interest in their sport.

So when Woods won last week everyone knew about it and the newspaper column inches about him and his sport started to pile up in a way they never normally do.

Maybe there are those among his playing peers who quietly resent the attention he gets and possibly wonder what all the fuss is about.

Golf survived and thrived long before he came along and will continue to do so long after he is gone, they may think.

But if there are any about who feel this way they would do well to be grateful for what Woods has done for their game and, indirectly, for them.

He has been vital in putting golf on the wider sporting map, like John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg did with tennis in the 1970s.

He has created publicity and interest in it and inspired people to take it up and sponsors to put their name to it with hard cash which eventually filters down to the rest of the players in the form of prize money and sponsorship.

In short, their fame and fortune is partly down to the Woods effect.

Of course golf continued without Woods over the last five years but how many non-golf fans were interested?

Precious few I would venture, and the sport should prepare itself for the same fate awaiting them when he goes for good.

In the meantime, golf should celebrate his comeback, and what a comeback it has been.

Surely there can have been nobody who thought he wouldn't have the mental strength to return from lengthy poor form and awful injury problems as well as his personal issues which have been well documented.

You don't become a serial major winner in a game as mentally and emotionally taxing as golf and not have an inner strength the rest of us can only wonder at.

But while an unshakeable mind can help rediscover past form it is no guarantee on its own.

Woods, who had a good season leading up to his first win, will have had to delve deep into his reserves of knowledge, experience, work ethic and natural talent to come back from where he was to where he is now.

And, golf being the unforgiving beast of a sport it is, where he is now might be a temporary place, a brief peak before a gradual and final decline.

But it should enjoy it while it lasts, and make the most of it.

Golf is in fashion at this moment in time, partly due to Woods' return but mainly because of the Ryder Cup.

Woods' comeback could not have been better timed to put the Ryder Cup at the top of the must-see sporting events this week.

With him in the USA team and the Ryder Cup having a magic that transcends its sport, golf will occupy number-one spot for sports fans this weekend.

The irony is Europe fans, who idolise Woods and would have been cheering his victory last week, will be hoping he is on the losing side, such is the partisan nature of the Ryder Cup.

Not that it was always that way. From the 1920s to 1970s it didn't cause much of a stir because the Americans won almost all the time.

Then they started losing when the Great Britain and Northern Ireland team expanded to all of Europe.

The desire to win and dislike of defeat have grown over the years to create a competition where behaviour on and off the course has sometimes left a lot to be desired.

So much so that for one weekend only golf fans on this side of the Atlantic will not be too disappointed if the Woods revival suffers a setback.