Screw tv ratings! You should have been there.
Pete, while your protective posture of chest thumping damn the torpedo's full speed ahead defense of Monterey Peninsula, that certainly needs no defending, the topic was the TV ratings for that event. And unless you're willing to supply those on the east coast with tickets and transportation, your being there, as opposed to your insensitivity of those who are not, is quite remarkable.
If you think only Tiger was missing, then you're missing the point, as much as Rich saying:
Anybody who would prefer to watch college basketball rather than golf (EVEN DURING "MARCH MADNESS (tm)"), or even care if BB had better ratings, should really not be spending too much time on this board.
You see, Duke v. Maryland was the CBS lead into Pebble, not the opposition. So, not only did Pebble lose the 5% increase in viewers that basketball provided, but lost another 40.5%.
Maybe those who are spending a good deal of time on this board, and having the Dick Cheney attitude of the public be damned, should broaden their horizons and consider how to attract more to our game, rather than repel them. And take note, losing 40.5% of the viewing public from the previous year, is repelling.
The PGA has long used the one star syndrome. Hogan to Palmer, to Nicklaus, to Watson, to Norman, to Tiger. If the PGA's marketing would evolve, other than "these guys are good" when they only promote one guy, to include say the top 25, then the marquee value, and viewership of the PB, and other tournaments would increase.
But to smuggly sit and and wrap yourself in the Monterey Peninsula, ignoring the realities, and consider any others not supporting your contentions to be golfing outcasts is just silly, and you need to stop.