If the British Open returns to St Andrews in 2005, as the Royal and Ancient have indicated, it could coincide with an attempt by Tiger Woods to equal or surpass the record of 18 major championship victories, set by Jack Nicklaus. Either way, it is intended that security will be a lot tighter than it was last weekend.

It seemed that most of the attendance of 47,000 spectators on the final day were in or around the 18th hole as Woods completed a memorable triumph. And the R and A expressed concern yesterday that there should not be a repetition of such scenes.

"We did not see the coverage at the time, but I hear a lot of people were pushed, which is awful," said Hugh Campbell, chairman of the championship committee. "Such behaviour is unacceptable and we will be studying the film in our review of the championship."

He went on: "We had many conversations about crowd control on the 18th and thought the Swilken Burn would be a natural hazard, especially with marshals forming a physical disincentive. We have had no complaints so far from members of the public, but we will look to see what we can do."

Senior police officers are expected to urge the R and A to make the Open an all-ticket affair, because of concerns over safety and crowd control. Indeed there is a worry in the Fife constabulary that the championship may be outgrowing itself.

In the event, they intend to have talks with their Lancashire counterparts regarding next year's staging at Royal Lytham and St Annes. And it is intended to take firm action against streakers, five of whom were arrested during the championship. The last of them, a woman, danced on the 18th green as Woods was about to take his second putt.

Regarding the crowd problems, the newly-crowned champion said: "It was a shame because I wanted to walk up there and have a special moment. I really didn't feel great about the interruption."

To which Campbell responded: "It's easy for a streaker to get on to a golf course. When you have to patrol 120 acres you are always going to be susceptible to the problem. I don't think they are spontaneous acts."

Peter Dawson, the R and A secretary, added: "It's mindless, and the way I think to get rid of it is to ignore it."

Meanwhile, it is intriguing to hear all the expressions of hopelessness about the competitive future of tournament golf, because of the current dominance of Woods. It's as if the 24-year-old has no more mountains to climb.

The truth is, his tilt at total dominance of the game is just beginning. And the next stage with be the USPGA Championship at Valhalla on August 17th to 20th, when he will have the opportunity of becoming only the second player to win three professional major championships in the same year.

This was achieved by Ben Hogan in 1953 when he captured the US Masters, the US Open and the British Open. Predictably, Nicklaus has come closest to doing it since then. In 1972, after winning the Masters and the US Open, he was runner-up to Lee Trevino in the British Open at Muirfield.

Having predicted that he would probably need a 65 to win, Nicklaus fired a 66 to lose by a stroke, having missed five putts of between five and 12 feet on the way.

Nick Faldo came closest of any European to emulating Hogan when, in 1990, he retained the Masters and later captured his second British Open at St Andrews. In between, a missed 12-foot birdie putt on the 72nd green deprived him of a play-off for the US Open at Medinah, in which he was tied third behind Hale Irwin.

Looking towards Valhalla, Woods said: "To be honest, I don't know very much about the course. I saw the telecast when Mark Brooks won there (in 1996). That's about it. I don't really know what to prepare for yet but hopefully I can get out there before the tournament starts."

Woods provided some insight into his preparation for a major championship. "The first thing you've got to adjust to is that par is a wonderful score," he said. "It brings out the best in players; guys who can strike the ball the best, keep their emotions in check and make the big putts."

Just like he did in an exemplary final round on Sunday, in fact. And for those who would despair at the apparent absence of a serious challenger to him right now, it is worth remembering that he actually beat Faldo's 10-year-old aggregate record for St Andrews by only one stroke. In absolutely ideal conditions.

In sporting terms, it has to be said that Woods still has a long way to go before he can be considered to have matched Nicklaus's impact on the game. At the moment, he is a better player than Nicklaus ever was, but that is not to say he can achieve the same success.

Much will depend, in my view, on the stability of his private life. It is worth noting the words of the Bear, regarding his reliance on his wife Barbara.

"I think the stability which she gave me, allowed me a lot more freedom to play golf and do things that many of the other guys didn't have the opportunity to do," he said. "The other guys were still looking around for a wife or a girlfriend or something else."

He went on: "Just by being there, Barbara helped me mature in myself, which had the effect of improving my golf game. So I think that a good marriage can be a very influential part of a sportsman's life."

Finally, it would appear that everyone in these islands was familiar with the happenings at St Andrews over the weekend, except for Aer Lingus, who seem to be have been taken totally unawares by post-British Open golf traffic from Edinburgh yesterday morning - 95 pieces of luggage were left abandoned there, while their owners made morning and lunchtime flights to Dublin.

After being forced to queue for up to 90 minutes at the check-in desks at Edinburgh Airport, the unhappy mess must have made a huge impression on visitors to this fair land. I have found this to be a regular occurrence on this particular route.

Some Tiger efficiency might do the job.