Oakmont, Pa. ? Perhaps the most famous photo of Jack Nicklaus as a father came from the 1973 PGA Championship.

He had just completed a 68 in the second round at Canterbury when 4-year-old Gary, the fourth of his five children, ran onto the green and into his arms. Nicklaus walked off the 18th green clutching his son with one hand and his putter with the other.

Two days later, he won the PGA to break the record for most majors.

Don’t expect that to happen to Tiger Woods.

Fatherhood won’t stop or even slow his pursuit of Nicklaus’ 18 professional majors. Woods already has shown that life-changing moments, such as marriage or the death of his father, haven’t changed a thing about his dominance in the game.

Far more difficult to imagine is a warm and fuzzy photo of his family in public.

Woods became a father Monday morning in Orlando, Fla., when his wife, Elin, gave birth to a daughter they named Sam Alexis Woods. The news was announced on his Web site, leaving out such details as height and weight and when she was born.

“Pictures of Sam Alexis Woods will be made available shortly,” it said beneath a short note from Woods.

The big question is when anyone will see this child in public.

Woods can rarely go anywhere at a golf tournament without getting pounded by the press and the public, and sometimes his peers.

He draws such a clear line between private and public that Woods won’t reveal his schedule until a week before a given tournament. He doesn’t let anyone except his friends inside his home, even before he got married. The name of his yacht says it all – “Privacy.”

Ditto for his wife, a one-time model from Sweden, who will turn and walk away from a conversation when she sees a group of photographers pointing cameras at her.

Elin Woods once talked about wives and children going out to the 18th green to celebrate victory, and while she thought it was “very cool,” she had a hard time doing it herself because “it’s just not my personality.”

For other players, children are part of their careers, traveling to tournaments, caddying at the Par 3 Tournament at the Masters.

Ernie Els wants his 8-year-old daughter Samantha to watch him play at least nine holes during the weekend so she has an understanding of what he does for a living. Few moments were more charming than the American Express Championship in Ireland in 2004, when Samantha had a sketch book, like her mother, drawing pictures of every hole Els played.

Els was working his way up the leaderboard in the third round, walking up the eighth fairway, when Samantha pressed up against the ropes and waved wildly, as if she were watching a parade.

Woods is so protective of his private life, it is difficult to imagine allowing his child or children to be at a tournament lest they feel part of the circus.

Will children make him any different?

It was never a problem for Nicklaus, whose first child was born after he won the 1961 U.S. Amateur.

“You can’t practice all day long,” Nicklaus said earlier this year. “You get your work done and prepare. You’ve got plenty of time for a family, and plenty of time to play golf. That’s not a big deal. Tiger will do just fine.”

He might be even better.