No Tiger? No Sweat for Tour Championship

This won't be the first year Tiger Woods hasn't played the Tour Championship. It is, however, the first time he hasn't played his way into the field.

Consider it just another in a long year of firsts for Woods, who has in all likelihood completed his first season as a professional without a victory.

But the absence of the world's No. 1-ranked player, who has played a limited schedule because of globally discussed personal and physical issues, may be having less effect than expected on the success of individual tournaments. Officials at the Tour Championship expect life to go on this week at East Lake, even without the game's biggest draw.

"We're fortunate to have the No. 1 most-recognized athlete in the world in our sport," said Todd Rhinehart, tournament director for the Tour Championship. "That draws people to the sport that might not normally be a golf fan. So from that perspective, he has impact.

"At the same time, we have the top 30 players for the whole season and who have played the best golf over the course of the last three weeks. It should only have a small impact for us."

Rhinehart said tickets sales are ahead of last year's pace and he expects to see the annual last-minute shopping spree that’s come to be the norm.

Although Woods won't be at East Lake, where he won the inaugural FedExCup in 2007, the tournament has a field that's loaded with accomplished players. There are six of the players ranked in the top 10 of the World Golf Rankings -- 2009 Tour Championship winner Phil Mickelson, Steve Stricker, Jim Furyk, Paul Casey, Luke Donald and Matt Kuchar – and nine members of the U.S. Ryder Cup team. The field accounts for 24 victories on the PGA Tour.

"We may lose some fence-sitters," Rhinehart said. "In some ways it will be interesting to see how the fans and media react. He didn't play here in 2008 [when Woods was recovering from knee surgery] and now we've got 30 players who all have a mathematical chance to win the FedExCup. We have some great story lines."

Still, not having Woods at the Tour Championship does seem weird.

“Absolutely it will,” said Mickelson at the BMW Championship after learning the news.

The Tiger Effect hasn't really dragged the Tour down this year, as some projected. TV ratings aren't as high, but PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem said earlier this year that the ratings were acceptable.

"Everybody needs to understand that when Tiger Woods plays and he's in the hunt on the weekend, he spikes the ratings. That's true," Finchem said in March. "When he doesn’t play, we have very acceptable ratings from a sponsor-value standpoint and from an audience-reach standpoint."

Woods' troubles haven't extended to the sponsors. Despite the stagnant economy, the PGA Tour has managed to find replacements for tournament sponsors who have dropped out. Farmers Insurance came forward to underwrite the event at Torrey Pines.  Wells Fargo decided to officially put its name on the event in Charlotte. Smith & Nephew signed on in Memphis and most recently, Nationwide said it would be the presenting sponsor for the Memorial Tournament.

The players understand the importance of having Woods return to his old ways, too. In 1996, the year before Woods became a full-time player on the Tour, Tom Lehman was the No. 1 money-winner with $1.78 million. That figure has nearly quintupled since then, largely because of the impact of Woods.

“Obviously you always want Tiger to play well,” said Charley Hoffman, who comes to East Lake ranked third in FedExCup points. “It’s great for the game and brings people out to the course. You want to beat him, but you want him to play well, too, for our sport. Because he definitely brings media, people, fans out here and does a great job promoting the game of golf.”

Woods said his game is getting closer. After looking lost at the WGC Bridgestone six weeks ago, he played well at the PGA Championship and came close to qualifying for the Tour Championship, despite starting in 112th place. Woods is currently working with a new swing coach, Sean Foley, to get ready for the Ryder Cup.

“I didn’t play well in the beginning of the year and I didn’t play well in the middle of the year and I’m starting to play well now,” Woods said at the BMW Championship. “I’m headed in the right direction, which is good, a lot of good signs, and I just need to keep working and stay the course.”