Its Super Bowl in February turned out to be the most-watched TV show ever. Its Duke-Butler title game in the NCAA men's basketball tournament last week was an instant classic whose rating was up 31% from last year's title game.

Then, CBS got the best of both worlds in the Masters: The incoming hype from Hurricane Tiger and outgoing emotion from the only other golfer who can reliably move the TV ratings needle —Phil Mickelson.

Mickelson, who appeared in an ExxonMobil TV ad just before he walked onto the 18th green Sunday, was the perfect feel-good winner. CBS zoomed in on him hugging his wife Amy, who's undergone cancer treatments. CBS' Jim Nantz, on one of several slow-motion replays of the hug, noted "tears coming out of the eyes." And he added, for historical perspective: "We've had a lot of hugs to remember on the back of the 18th green. That will rival the best."

Predictably, CBS' coverage only obliquely touched on Tiger Woods' famous off-course travails. Sunday, CBS' David Fehertyreferred to Woods' new "centered Buddhist attitude" and Nantz mentioned his "self-imposed absence from the game." CBS lead analyst Nick Faldo Sunday noted the big picture for Woods: "Once you're inside the walls of the grounds, you're cocooned in the most wonderful golfing bubble."

Still, Woods was good for the most provocative bit of CBS' coverage. Saturday, CBS' mikes caught Woods mildly swearing to himself and criticizing his own play — "you suck." Given that Augusta National ostentatiously insists its fans be referred to as "patrons" — hey, shouldn't the caddies be "executive assistants" — that on-air outburst might have seemed gauche. But it was great coverage by CBS, which wasn't intruding on anything meant to be private — but just giving viewers what some well-positioned on-course fans might have seen and heard.

Nantz Sunday said Woods' "foul language" had been "really disappointing" given "he promised he'd change." Fortunately, Faldo didn't seem overly distraught, saying the tantrum was "no surprise — he had a camera on his face all day."

Woods, on CBS after finishing play Sunday, suggested it really shouldn't surprise anybody that he's "not going to be walking with pep in my step" after poor shots.

Given its great action — made easy to follow given Augusta National's usual restriction on TV ad time — the tournament did something that seemed almost impossible just weeks ago: It let golf go back to, well, just being golf.

Running numbers:

CBS' Sunday coverage has a solid shot at ending up with TV golf's highest rating ever. That's semi-amazing given how the 500-channel universe has eaten away at broadcast network ratings, including their sports ratings. The ratings record to beat: CBS' 1997 Masters final round, when Tiger Woods' 12-stroke win drew 14.1% of U.S. TV households.

Even before Sunday's theatrics, CBS was on a roll. It's Saturday coverage drew a 7.6 overnight rating, translating to 7.6% of the 56 urban TV markets measured for overnights. That's up 33% from last year and the highest Masters third-round coverage since 2001.

Not surprisingly, the tournament was a big TV draw right out of the gate. ESPN's CBS-produced coverage drew 4% of cable TV households Thursday, which edged out Tiger Woods' 2008 U.S. Open weekday playoff win in to become cable TV's highest-rated golf ever. ESPN's coverage Friday trailed only those two events to become the third most-watched golf on cable TV.

Online, CBSsports.com Sunday projected its Masters coverage would attract 1.3 million unique visitors — up 103% from last year — and streaming 1.4 million hours of video — up 97%.