Missing on the Links

Woods Won't Play at Royal Birkdale, but He's Still the Player Everyone's Talking About

SOUTHPORT, England, July 16 -- Tiger Woods is everywhere at the 137th British Open, which starts Thursday morning at windblown and brutish Royal Birkdale. And yet he also is nowhere in the vicinity this week, resting somewhat uncomfortably back home in Orlando and soon to embark on a major rehabilitation of his surgically repaired left knee.

Though Woods will not play again the rest of this season, his image nevertheless has been plastered all over a series of brightly colored banners hanging from lampposts on the streets leading to the golf course. His picture has appeared regularly all week in all of the national newspapers and also is included on several pages of the official program. Golf shops and sporting goods stores all around this seaside resort area are filled with even more photos in displays of merchandise and equipment he endorses.

Clearly, that wasn't the elephant in the room at player news conferences in the British Open media center all week. Instead, the fact that the fearsome Tiger is not playing in a major championship for the first time since 1996 dominated the questioning of almost every player passing through for a pre-tournament interview.

"For this week, I'm not overly disappointed that he's not here as a player," 2002 British Open champion Ernie Els said on Tuesday. "For the tournament itself, it's a big blow. And for world golf, not to have the number one player playing, and especially after he won the U.S. Open, we're definitely going to miss him. As a player, like a lot of other players, it feels very different, to be honest. It's different. It's very different.

"Choke is a very strong word in golf, but I think the thought of him being around is quite enormous, especially coming down the stretch or even preparing yourself for a last round when he's in the mix. You've got your worries, not that other players are not to worry about. But you know this guy, he's going to be in contention at the end of the day. There's definitely a thought of him in your mind all the time."

Geoff Ogilvy, the 2006 U.S. Open champion and No. 3 player in the world rankings, even used the dreaded A-word, as in "asterisk," when asked whether the absence of the top-ranked Woods, the winner of 14 of the 46 majors he's played as a professional, would diminish this event or tarnish the accomplishment of winning the tournament without the most dominating player of his or any other time in the field.

"I just hope they've taught the engraver how to put an asterisk on the trophy," Ogilvy said, smiling all the way. "Then everyone will know what the tournament is about. Tournaments feel better when he's here, for sure. If any tournaments can stand up strong when he's not around, it's this one and the U.S. Open, Masters and PGA Championship. The events are bigger than any one guy.

"In some respects, it's fair enough because he's won a lot of golf tournaments and he's the best player of all time. Everyone knows what he's done. But seven out of 10 [major championships] he plays he doesn't win, which is still more than he does win. I'm sure if Jack [Nicklaus] took one off in his prime, it was talked about. But it seems that with more media coverage and more TV and more hype about it now, it's a bigger deal."

Woods's absence apparently hasn't hurt ticket sales this week. David Hill, director of championships for the Royal & Ancient governing body that stages the tournament, said advance sales were running 28 percent ahead of the 1998 event played here, and more than 200,000 spectators are expected for the week.

"He's the world number one, he's a fantastic player, a huge draw for crowds, both on-site and on television," said Peter Dawson, chief executive of the R&A. "It would be silly to say there will be no effect. Of course there will be some. I'm not one who subscribes to the theory that it will devalue the champion, whoever that is. He's played in 11 Opens. He's won three, which means he didn't win eight. Odds are whoever wins this week would have won anyway."

Veteran Mark O'Meara agreed. The British Open champion at Birkdale in 1998 and Woods's longtime mentor and best friend in the game said Woods's absence this week shouldn't mean a victory in this or any other major championship ought to be tainted in any way.

"Listen," he said. "As great as Tiger Woods is and as much of a fan as I am of Tiger's, and I know what he's meant to the game over the last 11 years, I think even Tiger would have to admit this: No player, no matter who he is, is bigger than the game itself, not even Tiger. This championship is going to sorely miss Tiger. On the other hand, this is a great opportunity for some of the other players to step up now, and some other players to move forward."