PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Florida (AP) — US PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem said it will survive no matter how long Tiger Woods stays away to sort out his personal life, and that a portrait of “gloom and doom” is misleading.

In the midst of a shocking sex scandal, Woods is taking an indefinite leave from competition to try to save his marriage, leaving golf without its biggest star while it continues to cope with a downturn in the economy.

“I want him to come back and play,” Finchem said yesterday in a conference call. “But we are going to be successful in ’10. If Tiger is out for a couple of months or eight months of a year, we’re going to have a successful year. It won’t be at the same levels without our No 1 player, there’s no question about that. No sport would be at the same level without its No 1 player. But I think the doom and gloom needs to go away.”

Finchem said six of the highest-performing tournaments, which he based on net revenue donated to charity, have not had Woods in the field during the last several years. He also said the cumulative number of viewers during a tour event did not decrease even when Woods missed the second half of 2008 with knee surgery.

“I’m not saying that I think everything is fine,” Finchem said. “We’re in a down economy. It’s hard to sell. And having the No 1 player in our sport not play is not a positive thing, and it does hurt television ratings. But I look at it in the reverse. I look at Tiger spiking ratings off of a significantly solid base when he plays … and I want that spike. And I certainly want the attention he brings to the sport.”

The attention has shifted dramatically since a Nov 27 car accident outside his Florida home, setting off sensational details of extramarital affairs that have tarnished his good guy reputation.

Finchem said it was the biggest “curveball” he has dealt with in his 15 years as commissioner.

“I can’t think of anything else that was more of a curveball,” Finchem said during a brief break from media interviews. “Just the magnitude of it. I can’t recall an individual in politics, entertainment, sports, with this level of focus that it’s generating in the media. Everybody is talking about it. My 17-year-old daughter comes home from school, they’re talking about it in the classroom.

“I’ve often said that up until (President Barack) Obama, he was the most recognised guy on the planet, and everybody thought he was perfect. The realisation that he’s not is huge news.”

Finchem said the tour had no input on Woods’ decision to step away, and he suggested that the salacious tales of infidelity likely would not be subject to discipline under the tour’s “conduct unbecoming” clause.