Some find golf on TV minus Tiger refreshing

I have asked probably 20-plus golfers that I know watch golf regularly on TV what they think of golf without Tiger Woods, who has been out since having knee surgery shortly after the Masters.The responses have been very, very interesting. Of course, there are those who instantly respond, "Without Tiger, why even watch?" Surprisingly, however, the majority said that it was nice to watch some of the young guns step up (Anthony Kim, Sergio Garcia), but also said it was nice to hear other story lines.Perhaps the one I heard most was the inside stuff about Paul Goydos, the single father of two girls, the substitute school teacher, the Cinderella story (almost).The folks commented it was refreshing to learn that tour players weren't all robots, but humans with real-life problems.It was like the PGA Tour suddenly had a personality, and wasn't all perfect machines running off some pre-programmed computer chips. Tiger sometimes seems to be machine-like, and the sound bites almost seem canned.As for golf's next major, Torrey Pines is this year's U.S. Open site? I just can't seem to settle with that site for our national Open. The USGA is clearly on a bit of "mission overkill" bringing our Open to public venues.Hey, I'm all for public sites; Bethpage Black is a truly great Open site. Torrey Pines is a bad used car, being run through a high rent body shop.However, it matches the old adage, "You can't make a race horse out of a mule." The mule is steady, solid and a reliable worker, but it's not Secretariat.You can take any decent venue, grow rough, narrow the fairways, add a few bunkers, shave the greens -- does that qualify it as an Open venue? You tell me.Look at Bethpage Black hole by hole alongside Torrey. It's no contest.Recently, the USGA chose a site out west, Chambers Bay near Seattle, for the 2015 Open. It is public, but -- get this -- totally untested. How is that you ask? Because at the time it was announced as a future site, Chambers Bay had just opened for play.Explain to me how you pick a totally untested site for a U.S. Open? Whatever happened to tradition, a stable rotation, classic architecture or history? I don't get how the heck they are making decisions.So tune in to watch Tigervision win the U.S.-San Diego-PGA Tour Buick-U.S. Open or something like that a couple of weeks from now. What's next, a pro-am before the event?(Tom Patri is a Golf Magazine Top 100 Teacher. For lesson information and more, visit Patri's Web site at www.tompatri.com or e-mail him at tpatri@mindspring.com.)(Golfworld is a feature of the Naples Daily News in Florida at www.naplesdailynews.com.)