Life happens, even to Tiger

The news that Tiger Woods will miss the Wachovia Championship because of knee surgery is an undeniable disappointment on a couple of levels.

The most obvious reason is he’s Tiger and when he’s in town, it changes everything. Being the defending champion, it was a foregone conclusion he’d be back at Quail Hollow this year but now he’ll be missing for the second time in three years because of a personal issue.

Life happens, even to Tiger.

If you’re hurt, you’re hurt and the knee has apparently been bothering Tiger for a while now. He kept it quiet, though.

At the Masters, there was no hint, not a whisper he was planning to get his knee worked on. Insiders were blindsided by the news when it broke late Tuesday.

Beyond the impact locally, it’s disappointing that Tiger will be sidelined for up to six weeks, which means he’ll also miss The Players. Consider the roll he’s been on – he has nine wins and four seconds in his last 13 starts – and it means everything is put on hold for a while.

As for the Wachovia Championship, it will still be full of glitter. The field is loaded again and once tournaments start, you tend to forget about who’s not there and focus on who is there.

Phil Mickelson will be there. So will Sergio Garcia, Vijay Singh, Trevor Immelman, Jim Furyk, Davis Love III, Brandt Snedeker and pretty much everyone else you want to see.

And, it’s safe to say, Tiger will be back in the future.