Public Taps Tiger Woods as Greatest Active Athlete

GALLUP NEWS SERVICE

PRINCETON, NJ – When Tiger Woods tees off Thursday at this year's U.S. Open tournament at the Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma, he will be trying for an unprecedented fifth straight major tournament title. Woods is the first player to hold all of golf's four major titles at the same time, a feat that signals the total domination of a sport where it is rare for one player to win tournaments consistently.

The American public has obviously taken notice of Woods' greatness, and overwhelmingly names him as the "greatest athlete active in the world of sports today".

In the June 8-10 CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll, 38% of Americans name Tiger Woods when asked who is the world's greatest active athlete, far outdistancing anyone else. Michael Jordan (who is no longer actively playing basketball) comes in second with 6%. Allen Iverson and Shaquille O'Neal, who are both currently competing in the NBA Finals, follow with mentions by 4% and 3% of the public respectively.

Woods Now vs. Nicklaus Then

Tiger Woods' perceived mastery of the sport of golf becomes even clearer when the public is asked to rate him in comparison to one of the sport's other icons. When asked who they think is better, Tiger Woods or Jack Nicklaus when he was in his prime, 69% choose Woods, and only 19% choose Nicklaus. The latest numbers represent a dramatic shift from last spring, when 40% chose Woods and 41% chose Nicklaus in response to the same question. The earlier data were obtained in April 2000, before Woods began his current string of four straight major tournament titles.

Woods Viewed Favorably by the Masses

In addition to his high ratings as an athlete, Tiger Woods also enjoys a very positive image more generally. Currently, 84% of Americans say they have a favorable opinion of Woods, while just 9% have an unfavorable opinion of him. To put this finding in context, Woods' favorable rating is 22% higher than President George W. Bush's current favorable rating. It is also 45% higher than a recent rating of basketball star Allen Iverson. Over the years, Gallup has recorded ratings for a myriad of public figures, and Woods' popularity puts him at a level rivaled only by Colin Powell, John Glenn, and Michael Jordan (83% each), and exceeded by only Pope John Paul II, who had an 86% favorable rating in 1998.

Survey Methods

The results below are based on telephone interviews with a randomly selected national sample of 1,011 adults, 18 years and older, conducted June 8-10, 2000. For results based on this sample, one can say with 95 percent confidence that the maximum error attributable to sampling and other random effects is plus or minus 3 percentage points. In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.

Next, we'd like to get your overall opinion of some people in the news. As I read each name, please say if you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of this person -- or if you have never heard of him. How about – [RANDOM ORDER]?

F. Tiger Woods

In your opinion, who is the greatest athlete active in the world of sports today? [Open-end and code]

* Less than 0.5%

Who do you think is the better golfer – [ROTATED: Tiger Woods today (or) Jack Nicklaus in his prime]?