The Domino Effect of Tiger's Life

There are the obvious casualties from Tiger Woods's infamous infidelity: the tarnished reputation, lost sponsors, broken marriage, angry fans, and spurned mistresses.

But the fallout from Woods's implosion stretches far beyond the orbit of the disgraced superstar, and the aftershocks carry serious implications for Massachusetts, with its $1.6 billion golfing industry. The indefinite leave from golf of this lord of the links has left many businesses - from golf courses to retail shops - worried about the future of a sport that has already been hurt by the recession.

Attendance at the Deutsche Bank Championship in Norton, the biggest golfing event in New England, which brings in upward of $50 million annually for the region, is likely to fall with the absence of Woods.

Attendance at the tournament plunged 20 percent in 2008, the one year Woods missed the event, due to a season-ending knee injury. And Golfers Warehouse in Braintree is concerned that fewer people, especially youths, will want lessons now that the golfing legend has disappeared.

"Without a doubt, people started to play golf because of him. And there are people who come in here and only want something that Tiger endorses. He'll get them in the door, and that creates more opportunities to sell more stuff,'' said Kevin McSweeney, manager of Golfers Warehouse. "His leave is definitely going to hit the entire golf industry.''

For more than a decade, Woods has served as an economic engine for the US golfing industry, which grew from $62 billion in 2000 to $76 billion in 2007, the latest figures available. Woods is credited with almost single-handedly attracting more minority fans, youths, and casual supporters to the greens, significantly increasing prize money for golf, and drawing the largest television audiences in golf history.

Nielsen Co. data show that Woods's absence from tournaments in 2008 cut network TV ratings almost in half.