While Tiger's away the rest of us can make hay

Colin Byrne,caddie to Retief Goosen, hopes Woods will not be absent for too long, but he is determined to make the most of it

I BROUGHT the June gloom of San Diego back to Dublin with me after the US Open and realised that their version of gloom was pretty tame by Irish standards. I was procrastinating on the first tee as it started to drizzle. When I looked back over the city dark clouds rolled across the darkening skyline and descended upon Bull Island. My golf was cancelled, I go out in a deluge only if I am being paid for it, not for fun.

I jumped into the car and spent the rest of the afternoon in low gear shunting around the city trying to catch up on a few things.

It was getting gloomier on the static, drenched streets of the city as I listened to the end of Europe as we know it with the No vote post-mortem on the talk-radio shows.

But one person's misfortune can have an uncanny knack of lifting another one's spirits.

Breaking news - Tiger Woods, the world's most dominant player (and if those competing for the same trophies each week are honest, the most difficult to overcome on the back nine of the final round of any event), is not going to play for the rest of the season.

Yippee, we are all playing for a higher position in every event he was scheduled to play for. The FedEx $10 million winner's bonus is up for the taking again, more world ranking points, the Open Championship, the PGA, the world events and anything else he was to compete in for the rest of the year have all taken on a new complexion.

Tiger limped around Torrey Pines last week to capture his 14th major, obviously under physical strain but typically under no mental pressure from either the course or his opponents.

There was a feeling that perhaps in the grand scheme of things the Chosen One was being handicapped with a dodgy knee in order to introduce some equilibrium to the seemingly unbalanced scales when it comes to beating him in a major.

His driver had become both a crutch and a burden as he tacked his way around the demanding 108th US Open venue, often leaning on the offending club.

The wider he hit his driver on Saturday last the better his position seemed to be. He made an outrageous eagle off a tee shot on the par-five 13th that was wide enough to get the mob's attention in the adjacent beer tents.

Then in true, I suspect, supernatural fashion, he converted a ridiculously fast downhill putt that had more bend on it than an anaconda. Only he could do it. The more we witness this truly unique genius the less it surprises us.

Whatever we may all think about the great one's fortune when he hits an errant tee shot, you cannot question his commitment or execution when it comes to taking advantage of the rub of the green. He is the living example of golf not being a game of perfect. Although he strives for it in practice, when playing he is inherently aware of the practicalities of keeping a score together. This is what separates him from the rest of the very talented field: his strength of mind and a short game to match.

Of course my initial reaction to Tiger's bad news is not really one of glee, although there is no doubt some players may change their schedule as a result. It is a tragedy for Tiger in his prime to be sidelined with such a career-threatening injury when there is so much brilliance left in him. Golfers traditionally do not reach their prime till their mid-30s. As we have seen in the past, tournaments without him are proving to be less attractive to an increasingly Tiger-hungry golfing crowd.

Despite the news lifting my spirits temporarily as I crawled through the capital's road impasse, of course we do not want him gone for too long.

I am sure he will use his free time wisely and we all had better take advantage of his absence, because when he returns I have no doubt he will be back with a vengeance and we will all be playing for second place again.