CADDIE'S ROLEWatching top golfers chase a coveted title around a spectacular golf course is a joy, writes Colin Byrne

THERE IS something about The Players championship, the fifth major, that is unquantifiable. Of all the past winners there is no one quality you can attribute to any of them. Long, straight, tall short, it doesn't seem to matter what type of professional you are, The Players Stadium Course at Sawgrass is a good golfer's course with no preference for your ability - assuming you have some.

Sunday saw journeyman Paul Goydos, veteran Kenny Perry, the uncloaked prince, Sergio Garcia, and senior player Bernhard Langer all vying for the biggest purse in golf.

There are a number of theories about the diverse make-up of the challengers at the PGA Tour headquarters in Ponte Vedra, Jacksonville.

The primary explanation was the main man, Tiger, was sitting this one out, therefore everyone else had a chance of finishing one spot higher than normal.

Despite the fact that this was not really mentioned in the vast new clubhouse at Sawgrass, there was a tacit consensus that Tiger's absence has a huge impact on the tournament.

If you looked into the crowd it was patently obvious that without the main man the attendance had thinned greatly. The gathering around the showpiece 17th hole had a lot of gaps. It may be an indication of the slow down in the American economy or simply of the lack of public interest in an event that does not include the world's most dominant player.

There is an undocumented link between Tiger and ticket sales.

The reality of The Players Stadium is it is truly a tough course that tests all aspects of a golfer's skill. The final denouement saw two very different styles of golfer battle out for the title; Goydos the older, grey-haired, sagging-shouldered, un-sexy member of the US Tour and Garcia, the youthful, athletic, slick-backed and sexy star of the same tour.

A good course is playable for all types of golfers and where Garcia hit powering fairway woods off the tees and penetrating shorter irons, Goydos was caressing drivers and following them with soft medium irons. The picture was different but the results were remarkably similar.

I had a rare opportunity to stay around for the end of a golf tournament; normally there is a mass exodus on a Sunday evening, frequently on the back nine players and caddies are planning to be "anywhere but here", especially if things are not going so well on the course. There were plenty of these cases in the final round.

Most of us on tour travel in selected groups. Last week I was invited to join "team Sergio", which was something different for me. Most weeks we stay in a hotel but given the logistics in Ponte Vedra, renting a house was the best option for those of us one-week visitors.

I was staying with the caddies of Sergio, Camilo Villegas, Miguel Angel Jimenez and Trevor Immelman (not for long as Trevor never made it to the first tee on Thursday due to illness) and Sergio's manager. They have a special camaraderie of all the groups I have been around on tour. It is one for all and all for one in their household.

Short of having a menu for the evening meal slipped under your door by Camilo's caddie who was the chef for the week, every day there is a full schedule in which everyone is included. Sergio and Camilo stayed close bye and came around each evening to exercise, eat and hang out. These guys generate a family atmosphere which does make us frequently displaced caddies and golfers feel like we are in some sort of home.

So when you get the chance to actually watch the extensive coverage of the tournament you have played where you have such an affinity with the challenges of the course that day and one of your "family" for the week end up winning it is something to savour.

Sergio had been hanging out back stage in golf for quite some time and if you had followed his progress, and particularly his statistics, you would have noticed he was playing well tee to green but once he reached the short grass, things hadn't been going so well for "El Nino".

As usual, Sergio struck the ball purely, which is a great help when the wind is gusting up to 45 miles per hour, with water and alligators surrounding many of the exceptionally small greens. Finally he got his previously unpredictable putter working when it really mattered.

Despite the fact that only a handful of players ended up under par and it was the opposite spectrums of the modern professional world that played off for The Players championship, much credit must be given to the authorities for the quality and set up of the course.

They were acutely aware of the weather forecasts for strong winds and set the pins sensibly and kept the greens at a reasonable pace to fairly challenge the players.

Maybe the great golfing public will recognise that watching top golfers chase a coveted title around a spectacular golf course is hugely entertaining even without Tiger Woods. The show that the crown prince of modern golf, Sergio Garcia, put on against the talented and less flamboyant journeyman but extremely gracious Paul Goydos is proof that watching players with different types of talent is always entertaining on the appropriate Stadium Course at Sawgrass.