Rocco's gonna be angry

So today comes word that Tiger Woods -- you know, the best athlete in the universe if golf is in the equation -- will miss the rest of the season because he needs reconstructive ACL surgery after his marathon playoff-win at the US Open, which itself came after months of downtime following arthroscopic surgery on his left knee in April.
I think this changes the script.
Before, Woods was a courageous warrior, fighting through pain following the April operation to once again beat the field in amazing fashion.
Now, some will paint him as a selfish star who risked his long-term health, who threw caution as carelessly into the air as if he were watching tiny blades of grass to gauge the wind during a Pro-Am. And others will say he robbed the 45-year-old Rocco Mediate of his last, best chance to win a Major (Don't worry; he's also a decent poker player and the World Series of Poker Main Event is just around the corner).
Maybe Tiger cares; maybe he's devastated by this turn of events and absolutely regrets risking the entire season to make one tournament.
But does he have to? Should Tiger care? He could have retired years ago and lived quite comfortably on his winnings and endorsement money. Tiger isn't competing against the current crop of PGA talent; and I don't even think he's competing against history -- if he stays healthy, he will shatter every record in the book for tournament wins, Major wins, etc.
History is not Tiger's opponent -- his own human frailties are. He probably has a number in his head of how many times he can win in his career, and today it must seem far more difficult in his mind to reach that magic number while faced with the prospect of being on the mend for the rest of this season.
But as Kevin Garnett said, "anything's possible."

UPDATE: Here's a key point I was pondering at the time but failed to type. From the ESPN message boards:
"The PGA, USGA, Nike, and Buick just crapped their pants. Golf (viewership) will be down 50% or more for the rest of the year. Whatever stations paid big bucks for The Open Championship, the PGA Championship, and The Ryder Cup, are sobbing right now."