Forty-seven of the world’s top 50 golfers (and 109 others) will tee it up in the second round Friday to continue their run at a British Open Championship. And while Kenny Perry and Luke Donald will be absent, it is the lack of the big No. 1 that will cause a drop in ratings for the third major of the season.
Tiger Woods is out for the rest of the season following knee surgery, and while that may matter to viewers it is not going to deter the field at Royal Birkdale from savoring the chance to hoist the Claret Jug on Sunday.
“To win a championship of this magnitude you are going to have to play outstanding golf and beat tremendous competition,” NBC analyst Gary Koch said.
“Whoever wins it is going to come out of there thinking, ‘I accomplished something great and I am not going to worry one bit that Tiger wasn’t there.'”
With Woods on the sidelines, the door opens for the world’s best of the rest. Who has the skill to walk through that door and take advantage of what should be a wide-open Open remains to be seen.
Phil Mickelson, No. 2 in the world, has been notoriously awful across the pond. He finished with an opening round 79 yesterday. Mickelson’s third-place finish at the 2004 Open was his only top 10 finish in 14 tries.
“He probably views this is as a golden opportunity,” Koch said. “But if you look at his past at the British Open it has been horrendous.”
Sergio Garcia, the betting favorite, shot a 72 yesterday. He came within one putt of winning last year’s championship, instead losing to Padraig Harrington in a playoff.
“Certainly with Garcia’s play this year, this is an amazing chance for him to shake the tag of best player not to win a major,” Koch said.
A marquee final pairing, even sans Woods, could be the key to drumming up interest in the United States. But with the early favorites scuffling the chance for another Rocco Mediate to step up is there. It might even be Mediate who opened with a 69.
But there is also a lure that comes with the Open Championship played often in howling winds on links courses that differ significantly from the ones traditionally featured.
“This is a different environment than fans are used to seeing, and that creates an interest for people to watch the conditions players have to endure,” said Koch, who is flying over to Scotland to compete in next week’s Senior British Open at Royal Troon.
But still …
“Is the same level of interest going to be there if Tiger was playing?” Koch said. “I seriously doubt it.”