World looks forward to a very open Open

The world's most famous Tiger may no longer be prowling the fairways of Royal Birkdale next month, but the world of golf is looking forward to what is shaping up to be one of the most open Opens for years.

"Tiger is an enormous attraction, there's no denying that," said Peter Dawson, Chief Executive of The R&A. "But the Open Championship has had many exciting finishes which Tiger has not been part of, and I'm sure there will be more.

"Tiger would be the first to agree that The Open is bigger than any one player, and I'm sure we can look forward to another memorable week at Birkdale."

Lee Westwood, who was within a shot of joining Woods and Rocco Mediate in the US Open play-off, echoed these comments, saying that the world number one's absence from the 2008 event would not even merit a footnote in history.

"When it goes down in the history books," said the world number 17, "there won't be a note beside it to say that Tiger didn't participate."

Westwood's Ryder Cup colleague Colin Montgomerie was quick to agree. "In four years time, you wont know if Tiger Woods was playing or not," he said. "Everybody is disappointed he won't be at the Open or PGA or other world events, but health is number one and we have to go by that. It puts the whole thing into perspective in a big, big hurry."

Others were more light-hearted in their comments. "Gives us a chance to win now!" said 1995 Open champion John Daly, before adding that it was undeniably a blow for fans and sponsors. And Northern Ireland's Graeme McDowell, as well as speaking of his sympathy and disappointment, also saw the silver lining. " "From the point of view of going to Birkdale in a few weeks, it is an advantage and we have a chance," he said. "The best player in the world by a long way won't be there."

Phil Mickelson, meanwhile, sounded a sympathetic note, and spoke of his disappointment that he won't be able to test himself against the man whose number-one spot in the world rankings he now has a great chance to take - or at least borrow. "I'm sorry about Tiger having to miss the rest of the year," said Mickelson. But I expect him to be back as strong as ever and look forward to competing with him as soon as possible."

Vijay Singh, the last man to out-play Woods over the course of a season, echoed Mickelson's comments. "It's pretty sad to know he's not going to play the rest of the season," said the Fijian. "But he needs to fix his knee. The sad thing is it's the wrong knee. It's the left knee that takes all the torque. He needs to fix that, and I think he's doing the right thing."

Such noble sentiments are entirely part of golf's sportsmanlike spirit, but the reality is that Tiger's rivals will now enjoy an opportunity to play for several months in the absence of a man who seems to be a perennial contender in every event he plays. And they should make the most of it while they can, if Tiger's coach, Hank Haney, is to be believed: Haney is confident that his star pupil will come back stronger than ever from his rehabilitation.

"Tiger is going to come back and be better than he ever was," he said. "He's had trouble with his knee ever since I've been with him for the past five years and I know he's had trouble with it before that. Now he's going to have a stable knee. I just expect it will be such a positive thing for Tiger and his whole career."