Tiger Woods pushes Masters ratings up 47 percent

Tiger Woods was almost done playing as ESPN began coverage of the Masters' second round Friday, a day after the network rode interest in his return from a self-imposed hiatus to its highest golf ratings ever. The Nielsen Co. said 4.94 million people watched ESPN's opening round coverage on Thursday, 47 percent more than last year's first round. The reason was abundantly clear: curiosity-seekers who wanted to see how Woods looked, acted and played golf since his personal life publicly crumbled in a shocking sex scandal.