Quicken Loans National Attendance Suffering From Tiger's Early Exit

The PGA Tour Quicken Loans National drew about 24,000 announced paid fans Thursday and about 30,000 Friday, but it "might be difficult" to hit Tournament Dir Mike Antolini's pre-event attendance goal now that Tiger Woods has missed the cut and is done for the weekend. Antolini before the tournament began said he expected "in excess of 130,000 fans" for the week. The galleries "were noticeably thinner and more spread out for Saturday's third round than they were the first two days" (Baltimore SUN, 6/29).

Meanwhile, complaints about "an overabundance of Tiger coverage comes both from dyed-in-the-wool Tiger haters and from less passionate golf fans who simply resent the way he chews the scenery." But those responses themselves are "just another example of how Woods moves the needle in golf like nobody else" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 6/28).