Tiger Woods, the leader of the tour pack, the benchmark for contemporary golf, the icon of fitness and dedication for millions is on the sidelines for the rest of the year. And tour players are licking their chops. As Stuart Cink said with a smile, “It’s time to make hay while the sun shines.”

Stuart meant no offense or disrespect, but he humorously voiced what other players have said, and what must cross every player’s mind: Now is the time to chalk up those wins, get a major on my resume, and make a name for myself.

Hmm.

With Tiger absent, will heretofore runners-up suddenly turn into champions? Will the Rory Sabbatinis rise to legendary dominance and achieve the heights of his bravura?  Will real talent step out of Tiger’s shadow of intimidation and showcase something we haven’t seen before? Will a new star be born, and will this young golf god be ready, flexing, and waiting to clash with Tiger when he returns?

Not bloody likely.

There is a tournament every single week, and Tiger plays scant few of them, so every week there is an opportunity for any player to win, with or without Tiger in the field. So why all the happy-dancing and talk of a golden opportunity to chalk up wins? I think any teenager out there can answer that question. There’s a humungous difference between your parents being upstairs vs. your parents away on vacation. And you workers who go head-to-head with your boss everyday, you are well-aware of the great difference between your boss being down the hall vs. out of the office. Tiger is out of the office.

We all have our invisible constraints, things that tie us down emotionally, people or challenges that intimidate or shrink us, scenarios that seemingly force us to act in ways that we wouldn’t naturally act otherwise. Tiger has that influence on many tour players, perhaps all of them. The question is, will all that vanish just because he’s sidelined?

Until Tiger returns, you’ll be reading a lot of speculation and opinion, much more eloquent and pointed and ridiculous than mine. Right now, my advice to tour players is to put on your darkest sunglasses, because the eyes of Tiger are upon you. He’ll be watching and taking names.

Let me ask you this, dear fan: Will we all feel that for every subsequent tournament this year that the second-best player won? When we turn on our TV, will we feel as though we spent big bucks on a famous Broadway play, only to see the understudy in the leading role?

Some of you (I’ve read with stupefied shock) are glad that Tiger is out of the picture. You’re darned sick of having him dominate and you want to give the other players a chance. I think the old-time comics had the best response to people like that: a pie in the face.