Next month's PGA Grand Slam of Golf will be the biggest sports showpiece in Bermuda's history despite the absence of Tiger Woods, according to Premier Ewart Brown.

"Make no mistake, it's going to be huge for Bermuda, the biggest international sporting event this Island has ever known," he told Reuters news agency.

"We are expecting a heavy short-term impact but better still a long-term effect. Bermuda is a tourism destination and we are looking for the exposure that an event like this will bring. Every Bermudian is prepared to show the world why our country is an unmatched travel destination and a golfers' paradise.

"Here's a chance to showcase Bermuda's natural beauty and for those people who make it over to witness the event, they're going to experience the friendliness of the Bermudian people, which is unparalleled."

Title-holder Woods withdrew from the Grand Slam earlier this month, deciding to take an extended break after a gruelling season to spend time with his wife Elin and young daughter Sam Alexis.

Woods, who won last year's title in Hawaii by two shots from fellow American Jim Furyk, became a father for the first time in mid-June. The news of his withdrawal came on the same day it was discovered that large letters — QLQ — had been singed into the grass on the 13th green at the Mid Ocean Club by vandals. Police have yet to apprehend the culprits.

In a further blow to event organisers, a number of unwanted tickets for the PGA event began popping up on a Bermuda online classifieds website. Yesterday, seven sellers were looking to offload their tickets.

Although he acknowledged that the presence of the world number one at The Mid Ocean Club in Tucker's Town, from October 16 to 17, would have given the event a major boost, Dr. Brown sympathised with Woods's situation.

"I was naturally disappointed to hear Tiger will not come but I completely understand considering the exhausting year he has had on the golf course and his new commitments as a father," he said. "Bermudians were waiting with baited breath to have Tiger and I hope he can qualify again next year and join us in 2008."

The end-of-season Grand Slam of Golf brings together the winners of the year's four majors. Woods qualified by claiming his 13th major title at the PGA Championship in August. In his absence, world number three Furyk will join Masters champion Zach Johnson, US Open winner Angel Cabrera of Argentina and Irishman Padraig Harrington, the British Open champion, in the elite four-man field.

Dr. Brown believes the Grand Slam will give junior golf on the island a significant lift.

"Bermuda is a country where golf pretty much ranks supreme in terms of participation," he told Reuters. "We have 65,000 people and 5,000 golfers and there is a heavy emphasis on junior golf. We have about nine or ten kids who are already on golf scholarships or at golf academies and we want to find a way to sustain this and grow it, and that coincides with the PGA's interest so we have some talks that have started about how we can give junior golf in Bermuda an injection and to speed up its development. Some exciting things will come out of this Grand Slam."