the Tiger Woods Era was supposed to spell the end of networks running out before golf events concluded.

That had been the case, until yesterday, when ABC pulled the plug on the Buick Westchester Classic after Sergio Garcia, Rory Sabbatini, and Padraig Harrington finished their first sudden-death playoff hole.

Then again, ABC had to; it didn’t want to pre-empt America’s Funniest Home Videos.

Once again, as golf fans so often experienced in the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s, a PGA event was pulled from TV as it reached its climax.