Comparisons, said the Buddha, are odious. Wonder what he would have said about comparisons to the Buddha?

Look, we've been as impressed as the next guy by what Tiger Woods hath wrought over the past year, but some people are getting a bit carried away with themselves.

Since Tiger tamed St Andrews and demolished the British Open field over the weekend to claim his third Major title in his last four attempts, the inevitable yardsticks have been trotted out: Ben Hogan, the last to accomplish this approximate feat, and Jack Nicklaus, whose prodigious collection of 18 professional Major titles will remain the standard until and unless Tiger overtakes it.

Comparing the 24-year-old Woods to Hogan and Nicklaus may not be fair, but it is at least understandable. Other people, including some in this business who ought to know better, seem to have gone completely over the top.

A day after Woods' Open win, one Scottish tabloid ran a spread placing Tiger squarely in the company of Ali, Pete Sampras, Pele, Mark Spitz, and Carl Lewis, suggesting that Woods might be "the Greatest Sportsman of All Time".

Michael Wilbon, writing in the Washington Post, suggested the time had come for Tiger to take his place alongside Babe Ruth, Joe Louis, Muhammad Ali, and Michael Jordan in the pantheon of American heroes who not only influenced their sports but "helped shape history".

As if that's not all a bit overwhelming, consider the estimate of Tiger's father (who was notably absent at the Old Course, but then, come to think of it, so was Mike Wilbon) of his son. Speaking with Sports Illustrated's Rick Reilly, Earl Woods likened young Eldrick, who he likes to describe as "the Chosen One", to Gandhi. You remember him. Short hitter, deadly putter, that Gandhi fellow. Crowds loved him.

The Scottish Sun and the Washington Post weren't alone in making the Tiger-Ali analogy. Earl did it too, managing to backhand Ali in the process.

"Tiger will be a more important figure outside of golf than in it. He will make his mark on world history . . . He'll impact nations. Do you recall the impact Muhammad Ali had, even with his lack of education and lack of communication skills?"

"Lack of communication skills?" We might suggest that Woods pere dig up some video clips of the pre-Parkinsons Ali. Nor can one help but wonder what the opinion of Earl Woods the Green Beret might have been toward Muhammad Ali the anti-war activist 35 years or so ago, but anyway . . .

You find yourself left wondering, why did he stop with Gandhi? Why didn't Earl liken his son to Moses, or even to that other fellow?

The spectacle of Tiger leading his followers from the 18th tee and into the Promised Land on Sunday afternoon would be a powerful argument. Literally thousands of them surged forward, leaping like steeplechasers across the Swilken Burn. For every one who miscalculated the jump (or worse, made it over only to be shoved back in by one of Pharaoh's men, who were disguised as R&A stewards), a hundred more made it to the land of milk and honey.

Once he reached the 18th, Tiger blew another chance to fulfil his father's vision. He was, you will recall, preceded there by a prancing Edinburgh stripper named Jacqui Salmond, who cavorted about on the green wearing only a pair of spectacles until the stewards wrestled her to the ground and hauled her away.

Had he had his wits about him, instead of complaining that his "special moment" had been "interrupted", Tiger might have ordered the centurions to unbound the woman. He could then have reached into his bag and covered her nakedness with a Nike rain-suit, after which he could have held up his hand and admonished the crowd, "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone".

And then, while he was at it, he could have marched in and, brandishing a 60 wedge, driven the Scribes and Pharisees from the R&A clubhouse bar.

Well, maybe not the scribes. For the most part they were hammering away on deadline over in the press tent.

While unwavering in his conviction that his son is "The Chosen One", by the way, Earl Woods voiced a bit of disappointment in Tiger's sometimes worldly ways.

"His humanity and his compassion need work," lamented the father. "They have to counterbalance his striving for superiority. Nicklaus had his wife and kids for balance. Tiger has only me and his mother. Girlfriends don't do it. Girlfriends are here today and gone tomorrow. Without the proper balance, the individual becomes pompous and domineering."

Wonder what Tiger's girlfriend, Joanna Jagoda, thought when she read that? On the other hand, Eldrick probably has it in better perspective than does his dad. When it comes to matters like this, the old Boston Red Sox pitcher-cum-philosopher, Luis Tiant, once summed it up with his personal credo: "There's no such thing as an ugly white woman."

Three weeks from this morning Woods will tee it up at Valhalla in Louisville in search of his third Major title of the new millennium, but if you add the PGA title he won at Medinah last August to his US Open at Pebble Beach last month and last week's conquest at St Andrews, he has already won three within 12 months.

At St Andrews last week Tiger lamented the fact that he is sometimes held to a different standard than that reserved for mere mortals.

"I think that's been the case for awhile," said Woods. "I've had to do things other players don't have to do. Then again, I've gotten slammed for things that players do out there."

Could Eldrick possibly have meant throwing clubs on the Old Course, or was it a reference to the inventive stream of rich profanity accompanying a mis-hit shot at Pebble that was caught by a live television microphone?

"That's part of being in the spotlight more than others," said Woods. "When you have the camera on you and people look at you a little more intensely, then you're going to find sometimes that I am human, too."

Perhaps we should all back off and attempt to understand that sentiment. Perhaps The Chosen One's father should as well.