By Brian Hilderbrand

Tue, Oct 11, 2005 (9:17 a.m.)

Charlie Baron, the longtime tournament director of the annual PGA Tour stop in Las Vegas now known as the Michelin Championship at Las Vegas, has grown weary of The Question.

Baron has heard The Question countless times since 1998, when Tiger Woods first decided to leave the Las Vegas PGA Tour stop off his playing schedule after winning the event in 1996 -- his first PGA Tour victory -- and finishing tied for 36th place in 1997.

"What is it going to take to get Tiger to return to Las Vegas?"

Baron used to bristle at The Question, but now deflects it with humor. When someone brings up that Woods isn't playing in this week's Michelin Championship at Las Vegas, Baron's stock reply is, "And Ben Hogan's not going to be here this year, either."

Crowds for the Las Vegas tournament have dwindled since an estimated 25,000 watched Woods defeat Davis Love III in a sudden-death playoff in 1996 -- although tournament officials do not release attendance figures.

The simple fact is, the Las Vegas tournament is not unlike numerous others on the PGA Tour that get snubbed by the world's No. 1 player. Woods has played in 19 PGA Tour events this season and never has played in more than 21 official Tour events since he turned pro in 1996 -- meaning about two dozen tournaments every year tee off without him.

"Tiger has played here twice and that's more than he has played in some other tournaments," Baron said.

"It's all about scheduling. When you take the four majors, the four World Golf events, the Players Championship, the Tour Championship, either the Ryder Cup or the President's Cup -- right there are 12 events."

Add tournaments backed by his sponsor, Buick, and events hosted by golf legends Jack Nicklaus (The Memorial), Arnold Palmer (Bay Hill Invitational) and Byron Nelson (Byron Nelson Championship) and Woods' dance card fills up pretty quickly.

It is clear that Woods has nothing against Las Vegas -- he has been here at least twice in the past month and even played a casual round at the TPC at Summerlin -- but it seems he would rather hit the town than play competitive golf with amateur partners.

As he has for the past seven years, Baron was quick to defend the field for this year's Michelin Championship at Las Vegas, which runs Thursday through Sunday at the TPC at Summerlin and the TPC at The Canyons.

Among the 144 players who had committed to play as of Monday were 16 from the top 30 in earnings and two of the best draws in the game in Phil Mickelson and John Daly.

"It's a strong field because in addition to those players from the (money) list, you've got great stories like Jason Gore, John Daly and David Duval," Baron said.

The field also features players with ties to Southern Nevada including Robert Gamez, Ryan Moore, Chris Riley, Dean Wilson, Chad Campbell, Skip Kendall, Scott Piercy and Craig Barlow.

Brian Hilderbrand can be reached at 259-4089 or at bh@lasvegassun.com.