er mike , this is from sporting life , thought you may find the facts interesting..
Just over 200,000 people attended this year's Open Championship at Royal Birkdale.
The figure is the sixth highest achieved in the event's history.
"It's a pretty stunning achievement given the weather, the economic situation and the absence of Tiger Woods," said Royal and Ancient Club chief executive Peter Dawson on Monday.
"All credit to golf fans in this part of the country. We haven't had all the television viewing figures yet, but the first day was about 20% up on last year."
David Hill, the R&A's director of championships, believes the figure could well have been higher but for the wind, rain and cold of the opening day.
"We lost four to five thousand on Thursday because the weather was so awful," he said.
first day was about 20% up on last year , ( didn`t tiger play last year ??? ) 6th highest attended in the events history !! am sure tiger was missed ,although i`m not that certain he`d have enjoyed the conditions, or the rough waiting his oft wayward tee shots. it would have been good to see him try and manage the course and conditions, but him not being there didnt diminish the event in the slightest imho..
link for story below
http://www.sportinglife.com/golf/news/story_get.cgi?STORY_NAME=golf/08/07/21/GOLF_Open_Crowds.html
