|
SOUTHPORT, England—Tiger Woods watched the final round of his own golf
tournament from the comfort of a couch in Orlando,
Florida, as he recovered from knee surgery.
Banners featuring Tiger
Woods are seen at the entrance leading to the
Royal Birkdale golf course.
The three-time Open champion and the world’s No. 1
player is sitting out the rest of the year to recover
from knee surgery.
AP
He was
part of a shrinking audience.
The
absence of the world’s No. 1 golfer from marquee events,
such as this week’s British Open at the Royal Birkdale
Golf Club near Liverpoool, is producing lower television
ratings, smaller crowds and a general lack of interest
among all but die-hard golf fans. That’s something the
sport hasn’t seen since the Woods era began with his win
at the 1997 Masters Tournament.
“The
casual golf viewers are not going to tune in,” said Jim
Spence, a former senior vice president at ABC Sports.
“Like very few athletes during our lifetime, Tiger
transcends sports. He’s like Muhammad Ali or Michael
Jordan. These are athletes with larger-than-life talents
and personalities.”
The
British Open, which begins Thursday in Southport,
England (Friday in Manila), marks the first major
tournament Woods has missed since he turned professional
in 1997.
Television viewership two weeks ago for Woods’s AT&T
National, the first significant US tournament since
surgery knocked him out for the rest of this season,
fell 40 percent, to 2.18 million from 3.62 million a
year earlier, according to Nielsen Media Research.
Host Jay
Leno of NBC’s Tonight Show summed up the impact
of Woods’s layoff a different way.
“Mathematicians at Stanford have calculated the smallest
number known to man,” Leno said on June 19, a day after
Woods announced his plan to have his knee repaired.
“It’s the Nielsen ratings golf will get without Tiger
Woods.”
Smaller
crowds
JUST two
weeks later, attendance at the AT&T National, conducted
over the US Fourth of July holiday weekend at
Congressional Country Club near Washington, fell by
32,269, or 23 percent, over the four-day event.
Woods’s
hiatus from the British Open, an event he has won three
times, is fueling one thing: betting.
Because
Woods has been listed as the favorite in every British
Open since 1997, his absence has increased the chances
for others to win. Consequently, European bookmakers are
reporting a bump in wagering.
“We like
to think it will be the biggest Open for a long time in
terms of betting,” said Rupert Adams, a spokesman for UK
bookmaker William Hill Plc.
A total
of £35 million ($70.1 million) is expected to be bet on
the British Open in the UK, up from £24 million in 2007,
according to William Hill.
Woods’s
dominance turned away smaller bettors looking to profit
on less-likely challengers, Adams said.
‘No
worries’
“TIGER
Woods is fantastic for people who can afford large bets,
but smaller-stake punters had been put off in the past,”
Adams said. “For once, they’re going to be able to watch
without having to worry about Woods.”
Spain’s
Sergio Garcia and South Africa’s Ernie Els, at 10-1, are
the pretournament cofavorites at William Hill.
With
Woods on crutches, network executives said they will
have more time for golfers such as No. 2-ranked Phil
Mickelson or Garcia, last year’s runner-up. Walt Disney
Co.’s ABC network, which will broadcast the final two
rounds in the US, also will use a camera on an airplane
for the first time at the British Open, golf’s oldest
tournament.
It will
take more than aerial shots to make up for Woods’s
absence, said Spence, who now teaches a
sports-television course at the College of William &
Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. Even ABC jokes about its
journey into uncharted territory.
“We’re
sitting here trying to figure out if we should just shut
down the cameras altogether,” said Jed Drake, a senior
vice president and executive producer at the network.
Woods’s
injury won’t be felt as strongly in the UK, where
interest in European players typically drives viewership,
said Caroline Inman, a spokesman for BBC Sport, which
broadcasts the event in England, Scotland, Wales and
Northern Ireland.
Last
year’s playoff win by Ireland’s Padraig Harrington over
Garcia was watched by 5.7 million people, the highest
rating since 2004.
When
Woods won the 2005 Masters Tournament, his last victory
in the most-watched of golf’s four annual Grand Slam
events, ratings rose 41 percent from a year earlier,
when Mickelson won his first of three career major
titles.
Industry
analysts point to a history of dramatic finishes at the
tournament for Woods-watchers looking for a reason to
tune in. Jean Van de Velde of France is back, nine years
after losing in a playoff following a triple-bogey on
the final hole.
‘Something compelling’
“IT’S
not like, `Oh my God! Let’s take it off the air,”’ said
Rick Gentile, director of Seton Hall University’s sports
poll and a former CBS Sports executive. “There’s all
that history. Something compelling can still happen, and
probably will.”
Among
those not alarmed are Woods’s opponents.
Since
winning his first major 11 years ago, Woods has averaged
three victories for every 10 events entered.
“Make
hay while the weather is good,” said Australia’s Stuart
Appleby. “Maybe he can take 15 years to get over his
knee, I wouldn’t mind. Make my life a little bit
easier.” |
