PGA says Tiger's absence may create more excitement

By Larry Fine

HARRISON, New York (Reuters) - PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem has tried to put a positive spin on Tiger Woods's absence from this week's Barclays Classic, the opening event of the inaugural FedExCup playoff series.

"From the standpoint of the sponsor here it's certainly a negative," Finchem told reporters on Wednesday. "Watching the e-mails and blogs come through over the past week...the fans seem to have a different view.

"They seem to think Tiger was going to win this thing (the series) and now it's not so sure he's going to win it so it creates more excitement and more enthusiasm."

World number one Woods cited fatigue for his withdrawal after winning the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational and U.S. PGA Championship in successive weeks.

The 144-strong field here will be cut to 120 for the following week at the Deutsche Bank Championship before 70 players qualify for the September 6-9 BMW Championship.

OVERALL CHAMPION

The playoffs end with the top 30 competing at the Sept 13-16 Tour Championship in Atlanta, Georgia where a $10 million (5 million pound) bonus in deferred compensation will be earned by the overall champion.

Vijay Singh, the second-seeded player in the series, won the Barclays last year to claim his third triumph at Westchester Country Club.