Woods takes notice of quiet day at Cog Hill
Tiger Woods noticed the difference.
In years past at the Western Open in July, the world's No. 1 player would have swarms of people following him around during the pro-am.
On Wednesday, only an estimated 150 people comprised his gallery.
"Quiet," Woods said.
An omen of things to come, or an anomaly for the BMW Championship -- the third of four playoff events in the new FedEx Cup series -- which kicks off today at 8 a.m. at Cog Hill in Lemont?
"Today was a pretty light day," Woods said following his morning round, where he shot a 4-under 67. "There were not too many people. It was kind of quiet.
"Hopefully this event will be like it normally is here in July, and hopefully we'll have the same kind of atmosphere and everybody will get fired up about it."
We'll find out today when Woods and a field of 66 golfers compete for the right to be among the top 30 who will advance to the final playoff event next week -- the Players Championship in Atlanta.
Woods, currently third in the points standings, will be in the featured group with Steve Stricker (second) and K.J. Choi (fourth). The powerhouse trio goes off at 8:33 a.m. on the 10th tee at Dubsdread.
Missing from the field this week, however, is FedEx Cup points leader Phil Mickelson, who announced Tuesday he would skip the BMW Championship. He rubbed it in a little bit by announcing it after finishing up a corporate outing at nearby Medinah.
"We understand it, why he's not here," said Woods, who had a classic showdown with Lefty on Monday at the Deutsch Bank Championship. "It was fun. We had a great time. But, hey, he's taking the week off and he should be ready for next week."
Not taking this week off is Stricker, the feel-good story of the year. After falling so low a few years back that he had to plead just to get into tournaments, the University of Illinois grad now finds himself on the cusp of something big if he can continue to perform for two more weeks.
"It's a long stretch, there's no other way to say it," said Stricker, who won The Barclays, the first playoff event this year. "But you know what? There's a lot on the line, too -- that's why I'm playing.
"It's a great problem to have. We're playing for a lot of money, and for me being right in there with a chance to win … it's very exciting."
Tournament director John Kaczkowski is expecting a big turnout this week. Ticket sales are up 15 percent from a year ago and corporate sales are 65 percent higher.
A majority of those on hand today will no doubt be buzzing around Woods and Co., and Stricker, for one, can't wait.
"I look forward to it," he said. "I'm not going to trash talk, though. He's the best player in the world and a great guy.
"It's a no-cut tournament and you can go out there and there's still a lot riding on the line. I've been taking a different approach lately and hopefully that will continue again and we'll have some fun with it."