Despite the good story and impressive feat of Padraig Harrington winning back-to-back British Opens (as well as Greg Norman being competitive), Thomas Bonk of the L.A. TIMES passes on a shocker: without Tiger Woods, the PGA Tour’s TV ratings are taking a dive.

The details of the tournaments without Tiger, as far as eyeballs on sets go, do not bode well for the PGA Championship and the Ryder Cup.

Now, TV numbers don’t always mean everything, but with the British Open slated to become an all-cable major in two years, the game’s draw without Woods is not encouraging.

Case 1: Buick Open. The first event of three events so far that Woods would have played but missed because of his knee surgery. The overnight rating on CBS for the fourth round was down 12%, from a 1.7 to a 1.5.

Case 2: AT&T National. Worse. The overnight ratings for the fourth round on CBS were down 48%, from a 2.9 to a 1.5. Third-round ratings dipped 35%, from a 2.0 to a 1.3.

Case 3: British Open. Not good. The overnight ratings for ABC’s final round coverage Sunday fell 14.6%, from a 4.1 to a 3.5.

In this context, we all understand a bit better why Michelle Wie is allowed to continually pursue sponsor’s exemptions to play with the men despite showing a basic inability to grasp certain rules of the game, such as signing one’s scorecard. It’s the “one of these things is not like the other” effect, combined with the train wreck that her career has become ever since she turned professional.

We’d like to advise the PGA Tour on better ways to attract TV attention to lower-level men’s tournaments than letting Wie back in. Heck, there are other women who stand a better chance of putting up respectable scores from the men’s tees if given half a chance. Lorena Ochoa wins majors, but if you’re looking for eye candy, there are beautiful women who can play.

Natalie Gulbis, for one:

Anna Rawson is another option:

Hey, Paula Creamer has won several LPGA tournaments:

It’s worth considering before offering Wie entry into a PGA Tour event again.