Missing Woods won’t impact on financial success as event is expected to create an economic benefit of £70million

Open a winner for all

By Peter Sharkey

Published:

Fears that Tiger Woods’s enforced absence from the Open would have a marked negative impact on attendance numbers at Royal Birkdale were dispelled yesterday when R & A officials described last-minute ticket sales as brisk.

Although the world’s number one will be at home nursing a long-standing knee injury, more than 200,000 are expected to descend on this particular part of England’s ‘golf coast’ over the next four days, creating an economic benefit of £70million for the region.

“The prospect of indifferent weather, rather than Tiger’s absence, is likely to play a greater part in whether spectators attend,” said Alan Bradshaw, of Merseyside sports agency AJJB. “Most of Birkdale’s tickets were sold long before the US Open, after which he announced his withdrawal from the rest of the season.”

None of the 156 qualifiers for the 137th Open would claim to enjoy even a slither of Tiger’s magnetic appeal, but the American’s continued knee trouble has so far caused few to reconsider their plans, although the prospect of rain might.

While several US Tour events have grown dangerously dependent on Woods’s attendance to guarantee healthy financial returns, thankfully the world’s greatest golf tournament does not.

Following a detailed study of the financial benefits accruing from the 2005 Open at St Andrews commissioned by the R&A, the body’s director of championships, David Hill, said: “We forecast the Open at Birkdale will create an economic impact of more than £70million. Some £32million will be new money while around £40million will be all the picture postcard images are broadcast all around the world.

“The Open is the largest annual televised sports event in the world. It reaches 500million households globally. Birkdale has a beautiful coastline and that’s the thing about the Open, it is at a different course every year, so benefit is shared across the UK.”

Although Woods creates an undoubted buzz in whichever tournament he happens to be competing, a golfing major is considerably bigger than one man, even Tiger. Nonetheless, it’s noticeable fewer than 20 American print journalists have travelled to cover the Open for US newspapers, almost 50% less than attended Carnoustie last year.

This is a shame for Royal Birkdale, with its distinctive art deco clubhouse, designed to resemble an ocean-going liner sailing through the dunes, is commonly believed to be England’s finest golf course. It is the focal point for the North West Development Authority’s (NWDA) golf coast initiative, one of three Royal courses sandwiched between the Dee and the Ribble.

The body is conscious of the significant economic impact golf has on the region. This is presently estimated to be worth more than £10million annually, although the figure has been considerably enhanced during the first half of 2008 as Liverpool’s status as European Capital of Culture has attracted around five million visitors to the city, a sizeable proportion of who have found time for at least one round of golf along a strip of England’s north western coastline.

Bradshaw said: “This is Merseyside’s second Open in three years (the first was at Royal Liverpool in Hoylake in 2006) and such is the veri-fiable level of economic benefit that competition between venues to host the tournament has become noticeably fiercer.”

Unlike some sports where benefit is measured in terms of television receipts or sponsorship, the Open’s financial impact is more diverse and spread across a greater geographical area.

Hotels, restaurants and local retail outlets witness surges in activity and even mundane revenue generators such as car parks see a noticeable change when a major is in town.

Yet perhaps the most significant benefit is free worldwide television and internet coverage which provides an aggregate global audience of almost one billion people with an insight into those specific regions where the Open is played.

“Were the NWDA to consider advertising the golf coast on TV in say, the US or Japan, it would have to spend tens of millions before it successfully persuaded foreigners to visit the region,” observes Andrew Stewart, an economist at Manchester University.

“The broadcast coverage afforded sports events such as the Open have a colossal knock-on effect which can last several years. Admittedly, very few people watching this week’s Open on TV will immediately travel to Birkdale and want to play golf, but the longer-lasting impact will be sufficient for many to visit at some point in the future. This might be a few years hence, but they will have been prompted, perhaps even inspired, by watching the Open on TV. No single player can influence this.”

Nonetheless, this year’s Open provides Woods’ regular opponents with a rare opportunity to snare a major title without having to worry over the spectre of Tiger’s distinctive final day red polo shirt prowling the fairways.

Such a scenario means Garcia, Els, Mickelson, Scott and possibly even Rose could stage a classic, proving that after 137 years, the Open remains much bigger than one man.

From a commercial perspective, this is actually great news for even a player as great and as dominant as Tiger Woods will not be contesting majors forever. No wonder bookies are calling it the most open Open for a decade. Who could possibly want to miss that?