Barclays Event Will Impact Area, but How Much?

PGA Golf tournament is set for the famous next month, and organizers are saying as many as 35,000 people are expected to attend over the course of the event.

That seems like a lot of folks.

When Bethpage last hosted the U.S. Open, attendance for the five-days of the rain-soaked, delayed event topped well over 300,000, with about 30 percent of those people arriving by LIRR train, according to a Newsday story.

The upcoming , scheduled for Aug. 21-26, won't draw nearly that many, but the question remains: "What impact will the event have on the local economy?"

Patch wasn't around in 2009 when Lucas Glover won his Open in the deluge, or when Tiger Woods triumphed in 2002, the first time the U.S. Open came to Bethpage.

Tell us what you remember about those two events.

How did they impact the local economy?

Were restaurants packed and roadways jammed?

Or didn't you notice a thing as thousands descended on our neighbors just to the south?

Share your memories and tell us in the comments.