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Tiger Woods was must-see TV at the U.S. Open, making birdie on the final hole to force a playoff, another clutch birdie the next day to extend the playoff and winning his 14th major on what amounted to one good leg.
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Halfway across the country, ticket sales were brisk in St. Louis those two days.
Woods is the defending champion in the BMW Championship, a PGA Tour playoff event in September that will be held at Bellerive. Fans in St. Louis haven't seen him in person since a practice round for a World Golf Championship on Sept. 11, 2001. The tournament was canceled the next day.
"Everything was going great -- until yesterday," tournament director Jon Kaczkowski said Thursday. "If you're a golf fan in St. Louis, you've got to feel snakebit."
That goes for everyone else in a golf industry that will have to do without its biggest star the rest of the year. Woods said Wednesday he would miss the remainder of the season to have reconstructive surgery on his left knee.
Television networks no longer can count on higher ratings driven by the world's No. 1 player. Woods had planned to compete nine more times this year, and organizers must try to put a positive spin on any tournament that no longer has him as a headliner. His departure even affects bookmakers, who are making refunds on wagers that Woods will win two majors this year.
Maybe the biggest reminder that Woods is done for the year is that British-based William Hill lists Ernie Els and Sergio Garcia as the betting favorites for the British Open at 12-to-1.
A week ago, Woods was listed at 5-to-2.
"When he plays, everyone in golf benefits," Kaczkowski said.
This is not the first time Woods has been on the disabled list. He missed two months in 2006 when his father died, and two months this year when he had surgery on his left knee to clean out cartilage.
His absence is most strongly felt in St. Louis, a golf-hungry town that again had dessert snatched away.
"We've had a few callers to our office that have asked for a refund, which is to be expected," Kaczkowski said. "I'm surprised we haven't had more. They're deflated a little bit. They understand we have a great field and a great tournament. But they thought they would have a chance to see the greatest player maybe ever in their town."
The tournament typically is played in Chicago but moved to St. Louis for this year in an experimental rotation. Kaczkowski said ticket sales are still double what they had been at Cog Hill, and corporate sales also doubled.
