ESPN will be covering next week’s 2011 U.S. Open at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Md and golf analyst Curtis Strange answered a media question regarding Wood’s non-participation in this year’s Open. Question for Curtis regarding Tiger Woods: “Obviously, earlier this week he announced that he was not going to play. I know one person doesn’t make a U.S. Open. But Curtis, I wanted to ask you what you felt the impact of Tiger’s impact will be on the Open itself? “
Curtis Strange answered, “The first thing that comes to my mind is that it opens up the field, especially when he’s not playing well or not playing. It opens up the field to a great number of players. You know, it will certainly have somewhat of an impact on the casual fan as was seen throughout the years. There is no way of getting around that. I think the hard core fan and those who like big events in sports, they’re certainly going to watch. It’s not going to affect them one way or the other. There is always a buzz when Tiger plays. There is no doubt. But there is always a buzz at the U.S. Open as well. You know, this is the biggest golf championship for an American. He will be missed. But when I first– the way I look at it, when that first tee shot is hit Thursday morning, his name won’t be mentioned.”