Get well soon, the game really needs you

Richard Gillison the slump facing golf's economy now the world number one is out for the rest of the season

GOLF IS about to get a glimpse of a post-Tiger world, and the early signs are an extended Woods' absence could be every bit as damaging for the game's economy as rising food prices and the credit crunch are for the rest of us.

The most immediate impact was felt by the gambling industry. Ladbrokes has pledged to repay all bets taken on Woods for the remainder of the year, amounting to around £100,000 in Britain and Ireland alone, the largest sum ever repaid by Britain's biggest bookmaker. A spokesman for Ladbrokes, which accounts for a fifth of Britain and Ireland gambling turnover, told The Irish Times this figure was made up of three main markets: bets taken on Tiger to win the British Open and the USPGA and a separate market on the player's chances of winning multiple Major championships in 2008. The latter accounted for three quarters of the total of money laid so far, or £75,000.

"Tiger drives the golf betting market to a huge extent," said Robin Hutchison, Ladbrokes' sports specialist, who said betting on the British Open was worth £2.5 million to the gambling industry in Britain and Ireland.

His form and reputation meant that before his injury announcement, punters were being offered miserly odds of 6 to 4 on for Woods to win at Royal Birkdale next month. Similar odds were offered for this year's Masters at Augusta, where Tiger finished second to Trevor Immelman, a result that scooped a whopping £460,000 for Ladbrokes alone.

"We learnt our lesson," says Hutchison, recalling the only time the company "took him on" before the 2005 British Open at St Andrews, laying odds of 8 to 1 before play started. The result was a five stroke win for Woods and £2 million hit for the bookie. Without Woods, the Open is well named, with South African Ernie Els now the bookmakers' favourite at 10 to 1, and one London punter betting £20,000 on world number two Phil Mickelson at 20 to 1.

Beyond the betting shops, the shock of Tiger's withdrawal from the Tour serve as a reminder to those running the sport of how they have benefited since his emergence as a 21-year-old at the 1997 Masters, a tournament he won by 12 shots.

Every player walking the fairways owes Tiger a debt of thanks, illustrated by the fortunes available to them every week. Total prize money on the PGA Tour in 1997 was $70 million. This year the figure is $278 million.

The engine of this growth has been television and sponsor money, both of which have spiralled over the course of Woods career. On Sunday night's final round of the US Open, American network NBC reported the Woods tussle with Rocco Mediate attracted an audience 21 per cent higher than last year, rivalled only in recent years by the last time Tiger won the US Open, in 2002 at Bethpage Park.

Outside of the majors, the Tiger effect is even more pronounced. NBC and CBS, the American TV networks which share PGA Tour coverage, report a 56 per cent "bump" in viewing figures when Woods is in the field, which goes up if he is in contention.

"Thank goodness we're not in a television contract year," said journeyman PGA Tour pro Jason Gore, referring to the key to the game's wealth, both in America and in Europe. The worry for Gore and the rest of the Tour is that without Woods the game of pro golf looks distinctly pedestrian, a point reinforced by the restructuring of the American game last year to include the Fedex Cup, itself an attempt to draw viewers in to the climax of the season when most sports fans are tuning in to the NFL and NBA.

A Tiger-less tour is a big blow for Setanta Sports, the Irish pay TV channel which launched its own golf channel on the back of paying $18 million for PGA Tour rights last year. The Players Championship, the unofficial "fifth major", and the channel's biggest draw, was watched by just 36,000, according to BARB figures.

It is Woods' ability to transcend the fairways that holds the key to his, and by extension, the game's marketability. Nike pay Woods $100 million over six years and have based their golf club and apparel market on his appeal to people turned off by the game's traditional values and image.

But despite 10 years of Tiger Woods, the game is still played mainly by affluent, white middle class men and participation rates in the advanced golfing countries of North America and Europe remain stubbornly flat and are even dipping.

Like the rest of us, each of these stakeholders in Woods Inc will be hoping for his successful return to the fairways. However, the signs are they will be seeing less of him when he does return. Tiger played 26 tournaments worldwide in 2005, 21 in 2006 and 17 last year. Most worryingly for the PGA Tour's TV negotiators, over the last two years, Woods has played the fewest Tour events (15) since turning pro, preferring to deal in the majors, the WGCs and events where he has a personal stake, for example the Buick Open (who pay him $8million a year) and his own Target charity event.

But for the bookies, there is always another day. "We're offering odds on what will be his first event back," said a spokesman for Skybet. For fans and business types alike, that day can't come soon enough.