There was nothing at stake in Monday's prime-time exhibition match,
although one wouldn't know that from watching Sergio Garcia act as if he
had just won The Masters when his 10-foot birdie putt fell for a 1-up
victory over Tiger Woods.
But imagine those two duking it out with a host of others right behind in
the final round of The Players Championship, with nearly $1.1 in official
money up for grabs on the famed Stadium Course at the TPC at
Sawgrass.
At night.
Under the lights.
''Absolutely, I think it would work,'' said Rob Correia, senior vice
president of programming for CBS Sports. ''It's not something you'd
dismiss outright like you would 10 years ago.''
It certainly can't be dismissed after Monday night, when Woods and
Garcia played the final four holes of their match with help from 186 light
fixtures that generated 603,000 watts.
There's even some precedent on the PGA Tour.
The final round of the 1993 Disney Classic was 36 holes because of
weather problems, and Jeff Maggert finished up his first tour victory
under floodlights. Even last year at Valderrama, lights were positioned
on the 18th green so Woods and Miguel Angel Jimenez could complete
their sudden-death playoff.
It can be done.
Musco Lighting of Iowa was in charge of lighting Bighorn for the
prime-time show. That's the same company that did the unthinkable two
years ago by installing lights at the Daytona International Speedway for
the midsummer NASCAR races, with stock cars traveling at speeds
close to 200 mph and not knowing the difference between night and day.
Purists would scream ''Fore!,'' or something close to it.
Imagine the sight of 65-foot high light poles lining the fairways of
Sawgrass or Firestone or Colonial. On the other hand, what would Old
Tom Morris have thought about cart paths? Or television towers?
''I would doubt it very much,'' said Marty Parkes of the U.S. Golf
Association, when asked if the U.S. Open would ever be played in prime
time. ''We're pretty traditional in our approach to things. We staunchly
believe it's an outdoor game, played under natural conditions. It smacks
of yet another artificial device being used in the game.''
Lights are artificial, just like the range-finders players are allowed to
use in practice rounds to measure exact yardage. In the strictest sense,
so are sprinklers, which make sure the grass is green and perfect. And
lawn mowers.
Jeff Rogers, the vice president of development for Musco, said there
already is talk about adding lights for a fifth hole should there be
another Tiger vs. fill-in-the-blank. How long before the entire back nine
is lit, followed by all 18 holes.
Besides, Musco already has installed lights at golf courses in Taiwan,
China and Malaysia.
''I think last night spoke for itself,'' Rogers said today. ''They could do
whatever they wanted. If you have good quality and sufficient quantity
of lights, seeing the ball at night is easier than seeing it at daytime. And
it's easier to track.''
But it's not easy to install, nor is it cheap.
Musco spent about $250,000 on the temporary lights at Bighorn. Rogers
declined to say how much it cost the company to illuminate Ta Shee
Resort in Taiwan or its other courses. A conservative estimate to light
a golf course would be in the neighborhood of $30 million.
That money could come from television, keeping in mind that ABC
Sports drew a big-market overnight rating of 8.6, the highest of any
network Monday night.
''There's something special about sports at night, with lights, in kind of a
prime-time atmosphere,'' Mark Mandel of ABC Sports said. ''Whether you
could have a steady diet of it, I don't know.''
There are a few hitches. Woods stood on the 15th tee and said he saw
the shadows of six flags. Sunshine produces tall shadows, too, but
they're usually falling in only one direction. Plus, tee times would have
to be structured in such a way that half the weekend field plays in the
day and the other half under the lights.
Henry Hughes, chief of operations for the PGA Tour, said the entire
course, including parking lots in grassy fields, would have to be
illuminated for concessions and the safety of the spectators.
''Last night showed golf can be played at night,'' Hughes said. ''But it's not
something we're currently considering.''
Fair enough.
But one can only wonder if that was what officials said when the idea of
baseball under the lights was first raised.
