There's only one thing to say to anybody who complains that Tiger Woods isn't playing this week's PGA Tour season-opening Mercedes-Benz Championship or who doesn't think golf's worth following unless Woods is in a tournament.
Get over it.
Woods will never play more than 20 tournaments a year on the PGA Tour. Jack Nicklaus didn't play much more. Nicklaus was in the game for the major tournaments, and so is Woods. Case closed.
Woods said on his website last week that he's been "unable" to prepare for the Mercedes. Wouldn't it have been more accurate for him to say that he chose not to?
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He preferred to spend time with his family and friends skiing, for one thing. There's nothing the matter with that. The point is, that if he wanted to prepare, he'd have found the time.
Meanwhile, Woods also said last week that his wife, Elin, is pregnant. He hasn't said when she's expecting, but the betting is that she'll give birth in the summer. Maybe Woods will have to miss a major, or maybe he won't. He'll figure it out.
One thing seems certain, in the same way it was certain with Nicklaus and is with most people: Having a family will prove a tremendous boon to Woods's life. It will help him become that much more rounded a person. There's no reason to believe having a child will hurt Woods in his quest to win more majors.
Oh, yeah, those majors. There's a link on Woods's website to his golf records. The first refers to majors won -- and Woods means professional majors. Nicklaus won 18, and Woods is next with 12.
The second record on the website is most majors won. Woods sends a not so subtle message here that his three U.S. Amateur wins count as majors, as they should. Nicklaus won 20 majors, including his two U.S. Amateurs. Woods has won 15, including his three U.S. Amateurs. Presto, he's five, not six, behind Nicklaus in most majors won.
It's quite appealing, really, that Woods still values his amateur accomplishments. There's so much more to the game than professional golf, which is what Woods is effectively saying. That's why Arnold Palmer says the most important win in his career was the 1954 U.S. Amateur. It gave him a tremendous shot of confidence.
So Woods is into majors, which he demonstrates clearly by how he refers to the majors on his website.
Next on the catalogue of records is most PGA Tour wins. Take note: The PGA Tour comes third behind the two references to majors. Sam Snead won 82 PGA Tour events, Nicklaus 73, Ben Hogan 64 and Palmer 62, and Woods is at 54 with lots of room and time to increase that. He's still young, having turned 31 last Saturday.
Woods has been and will continue to be careful with how he plans his time, simply because he wants to give himself the best chance of winning a major every time he plays one. If it bothers people that he doesn't play more PGA Tour events, so be it. If it hurts the PGA Tour, well, Woods is an asset even when he doesn't play. His absence gets people talking, doesn't it?
But here's a better way to think about Woods's schedule: as if he were a baseball pitcher, going to the mound every fourth game. (He plays more than 25 per cent of the PGA Tour events, but you get the point.) Toronto Blue Jays fans would like to see Roy Halladay start more than the 32 games he did in 2006, but that's not the way it works with starting pitchers.
Woods is like that. He goes to the first tee when he feels ready, and his absence doesn't mean there's nobody else worth watching. Halladay isn't the only Blue Jays pitcher, and Woods isn't the only PGA Tour player. He's far and away the best, but every PGA Tour player is talented. Golf fans might notice that if they looked past Woods.
So, yes, get over it. Woods isn't at the Mercedes-Benz this week for the second year in a row, and he sure won't be at the Canadian Open in July. He'll take a pass on more than half of the tournaments on the PGA Tour this year.
That's the way it is with Woods and always will be.
His plan's working, wouldn't you agree?
