to ensure qualifying for the final after fouling in his first two attempts at the 1936 Summer Olympics. (Long would go on to get the silver to Owens' gold.)

Aside from being viewed as the right thing to do, Tiger's decision was hailed by branding experts as a turning point in his public image. "He had the presence of mind to know that the worst possible outcome would have been to win that Masters after a questionable ruling," said a senior advisor on Team Tiger. "Some would forever call it 14-plus-1 majors. Tiger would have to win 20 to beat Jack's record of 18."

The whole incident had a profound effect on Augusta National as well. Club members no longer serve as amateur rules officials in the Masters. The clubrecord bank profits helped whip up a particularly ferocious flurry of ''banks are bastards'' headlines, with first the Coalition treasury spokesman, Joe Hockey, and then the Treasurer, Wayne Swan, offering competing plans to rein in the power of the dastardly banks. For a few fleeting seconds everyone was an expert on competition in the financial sector and how to enhance it. This week a ban on bank exit fees (the fees borrowers are charged if they want to ''vote with their feet'' and switch the bank with which they take out their mortgage) finally passed the Parliament. The Coalition and the independent senator Nick Xenophon unsuccessfully tried to exempt smaller lenders on the grounds that the move would cement the power of the big four banks rather than