Danny Moloshok / Reuters file

Tiger Woods celebrates after making birdie on the 18th hole to force a playoff with Rocco Mediate during the 2008 U.S. Open. Woods went on to win the tournament in a 19-hole playoff.

Jim McCabe

So if a registered letter from a certain E.T. Woods of Windermere, Fla., were to arrive at PGA Tour headquarters in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., do you think there’d be a collective holding of the breath? No doubt.

And if said letter were to include something to the effect of "I hereby relinquish my PGA Tour membership so as to spend more time with family, compete on 'Dancing With the Stars,' and get my man Charles Barkley elected governor of Alabama," do you think the tears would flow? As sure as 16-handicapper’s slice they would.

It’s just that the tears wouldn’t reach flood proportions like they may have two or three years ago.

Oh, Woods is still Woods, meaning he’s miles ahead of anyone else for title of world’s greatest golfer. And the mantra that everyone loves to chant — that it’s great for the game that the world’s most famous athlete plays golf — that still holds true. No one compares to Woods when everything is rolled together — talent, success, aura, likeability, recognition, presentation, personality. He is the complete package and no other sport can produce an athlete to match him, though tennis' Roger Federer comes closest.

So, sure, his departure would be cause for despair, but if Woods' June limp to the sideline and subsequent surgery and layoff demonstrated anything, it was the relative strength of the PGA Tour and the pro golf landscape. It’s in good shape, and while there’s no way one would suggest it is better without Woods, his absence from the scene gave others a chance to step up and strut their stuff.

Anthony Kim, for instance, and Camilo Villegas makes two. Sergio Garcia and Hunter Mahan were two others who showed there is great talent under 30 and the emergence of fan-favorites Boo Weekley and J.B. Holmes is something PGA Tour officials can take comfort in.

Without Woods, Vijay Singh was able to flex his veteran muscles and Phil Mickelson solidified his hold on No. 2. Padraig Harrington cashed in for two majors and endless respect, while Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter demonstrated they’ve got enough game to do likewise. And in addition to all that, Paul Azinger carried out his two-year quest to restore American pride in the Ryder Cup and breathe new life into an event that was on the ropes.

All in all, it was a pretty good stretch of golf from mid-June to the Ryder Cup, and it may have served as an answer to those folks who often wondered what the pro golf landscape would look like without Woods. The answer: It would look pretty young, with a sprinkling of veteran talent, and fairly entertaining, too, with spirited competition and scintillating golf for those who appreciate it. Granted, it would lack the electricity delivered by Woods, who made the game a must-see like no one had since perhaps the early days of Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus, but there is now plenty of evidence that the game will be able to go on without him, which, truth be told, is a reality closer to being realized than people may think.

There is, for instance, the matter of his 33rd birthday, which is only weeks away, and if you want a somber thought to consider here it is this: Woods is perhaps two-thirds of the way to the finish line of his PGA Tour career. The 2009 season will be his 13th on the Tour. It’s hard to envision him playing a full schedule past the age of 40, which means seven, maybe eight seasons are out there, but if we give him full credit for the way he has drawn young stars to the game — and for sure, we must — then it’s safe to assume the horizon is even brighter for professional golf.

Will it ever be quite like it was in 2000 when Woods was chasing down three majors? Or April 2001 when he was conquering an unprecedented fourth straight major? Or 2006-07 when he was winning 15 times in 31 starts? Or even 2008 when he played just six times, but won four tournaments, including a U.S. Open on one good leg?

You’d guess not, except who knows, maybe 2009 will bring even greater things from Woods. It could also bring greater things from his competition. He has that sort of effect on players, a fact for which the PGA Tour is thankful.