No Mickelson, but BMW still has Woods

The BMW Championship is without one of the PGA Tour's bigger stars this week thanks to the withdrawal of Phil Mickelson, but as long as one certain golfer (Tiger Woods) is headlining the field, things should work out just fine at Cog Hill.

"Losing Phil Mickelson, he's a marquee player and you'd love to have him at your tournament," said BMW tournament director Jon Kaczkowski. "It's been proven here in Chicago that Tiger Woods sells tickets."

Does he ever.

According to Kaczkowski, ticket sales are up 15 percent and corporate sales are up more than 65 percent from a year ago.

"We've got the best field we've ever had, attendance is up, corporate sales up, and I think fan interest is up as well."

And if Woods is in the hunt again, the sky will be the limit. His record in Lemont indicates that's just where he'll be come Sunday.

In nine pro starts at Cog Hill, Woods has won three times, made all nine cuts, been second twice and recorded seven top-10 finishes.

Attention please: Though they're not weathermen and they don't play them on TV, the folks at the PGA Tour announced late Tuesday that due to possible bad weather later in the week, tee times for both Thursday and Friday rounds have been moved up to 8 a.m.

Originally, Thursday's first round was scheduled to start at 10:15 a.m. while Friday's was to start at 11:15 a.m.

Chip shots: In addition to the withdrawals of Phil Mickelson (family) and British Open champion Padraig Harrington (fatigue), Bernhard Langer (now a full-timer on the Champions Tour) and Paul Goydos have also pulled out meaning the original field of 70 currently sits at 66 players. … Actor Morgan Freeman was spotted heading into the clubhouse Tuesday morning at Cog Hill with golf clubs in tow.