NBC's three-hour coverage of the World Challenge -- which was supposed to be hosted by Woods -- did not include even one commercial starring Woods. Normally, every break would include at least one.

Woods did twice appear, briefly, in a PGA Tour "image" ad.

Predictably, NBC made quick and polite work of Woods' absence. At the top, host Dan Hicks, one of TV's many golf voices who helped build and sell Woods' bogus, world's-finest-human image, said that Woods "elected to withdraw," adding, "Just over a week ago, he was involved in a car accident, so no Tiger Woods this year."

And that was that.

Sunday, NBC opened with Hicks dutifully reading a statement from Woods that profusely thanked the tournament's title sponsor, Chevron.