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When Washington, D.C., resident Sharmaine Jackson saw a TV commercial for the 2009 AT&T National tournament last week, she immediately had the same reaction as many: it's too expensive for her family.

She figured that golf is an expensive sport, so tickets must cost a pretty penny too. But after some digging, she stumbled across encouraging news for her sons Matthew and Michael: tickets for kids were free. The family was going to see Tiger Woods.

Families all over the course at Congressional Country Club praised the Tiger Woods Foundation Thursday for the free ticket policy, claiming it was one of the key factors in bringing their kids to the tournament. The tournament, hosted by Woods, is taking place at the Bethesda golf course through Sunday.

"We hopped on the Metro, then the bus, and we finally got here," Jackson said, Matthew, 10, and Michael, 8, at her heels. "I wasn't going to let my babies miss this."

And at a time when penny-pinching is the norm, children ran freely across the course Thursday, for no charge.

"Tiger Woods is a class act for letting the kids and military in for free," said Darren McCue, of Darnestown, who was watching the tournament with his two sons, Conor and Thomas. "…I mean, like any sporting event you know what you're going to pay when you get inside: $7 for a beer, whatever for a hamburger. But it helps knowing that I didn't have to pay for the kids."

At the merchandise tents throughout Congressional Country Club, prices have dropped as well, said John Lyberger, PGA Director of Golf at the club.

"We lowered prices a bit to correlate with what the economy is like," he said. "We wanted to make sure that people could still take something home with them."

Darcy Ryan, director of retail for the tournament, said while the recession may put a dent in sales, a boost in attendance may actually lead to a year-over-year increase in merchandise sales. The reason?

"Well, Tiger's back this year," she said.

Last year attendance numbers dropped 19 percent from 2007. Most attribute that fall to Woods' absence from the tournament due to injury.

But so far this week attendance numbers haven't seemed recession-like. Numbers for Wednesday's Pro-Am tournament and opening ceremonies were up, with 17,734 fans this year compared to 10,019 last year. Numbers for Thursday were not yet available.

Leigh Witek, 11, from Springfield, Va., could care less about the economy.

"It's pretty cool because you get to watch everyone here be really good, and then you can play at home and be really bad," she said.