Apr 6, 2014 By Mike Dudurich for The 5 min read

So, just how wide open do you think this week’s Masters is going to be?

None of the top players in the world have played like top players. Some are injured, some have suffered through Sunday afternoon meltdowns and some just haven’t had it going on yet in 2014.

None of them had done anything over the course of the PGA Tour’s wrap-around season to justify their being named a favorite. Over the winter, Tiger Woods had been installed as the favorite, based on his five wins last year and the four green jackets in his closet.

Sentiment for that pick faded quickly when Woods got off to the worst start of his 18-year career and died Tuesday when he announced he had undergone back surgery and would be sidelined for an indefinite period of time.

He had a procedure, a micro-discectomy, done last Monday for a pinched nerve that had been causing him pain for months. Woods said the surgery was successful but will require several weeks of rest and rehabilitation.

Woods’ absence next week will be the first time he’s missed the Masters as a professional.

Obviously, his absence among those tall Georgia pines will be felt. Whether he’s winning five times as he did in 2013 or looking very mortal as he did in the start of 2014, Woods is the player who creates more buzz than any other in professional golf.

For the past 20 years, Woods made the task of picking a favorite for the Masters fairly easy. If he was going to tee it up for the first round, he was always a good choice.

He had been made the favorite after what he did last year, but his year to this point didn’t even make him a good bet to compete in Augusta, let alone contend.

His status before the surgery was the focal point of an issue that it is widespread through the elite players in the game. Since 2008, when Woods won the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines on a blown-out knee and fractured leg, it has been a list of injuries and ailments for him.

And yes, he’s the No. 1 ranked player in the world. But is he really the best player in the world right now? Woods certainly hasn’t played that way. But neither has No. 5 in the world, Phil Mickelson. He’s had back issues and pulled an oblique muscle that forced him to withdraw from the Valero Texas Open.

How about Jason Day, No. 4 in the world, who has battled a thumb injury over the last month or so and is reportedly still not 100 percent?

Adam Scott, No. 2, and Rory McIlroy, No. 7, are healthy but both faltered down the stretch in final rounds in recent weeks, bringing into question their mental fitness for four pressure-filled days in Georgia.

Here’s a tidbit to think about: In three of the four tournaments of the Florida Swing over the last month or so, major champions played in the final group on Sunday and none of them won. McIlroy at the Honda Classic, Jason Dufner at Doral and Scott at Bay Hill all could have solidified their status going into Augusta, but all swung and missed.

And those three are the healthy ones.

So what we’re looking at is something very rare. We’re five days from the ceremonial starters getting the Masters off and running and, for the first time in a very long time, we have no idea who the favorite should be in the most exciting of all four majors.

But take a look at what’s happened on the PGA Tour in the last month or so and ask yourself if you really should be surprised that there’s no favorite.

Russell Henley, ranked 109th in the world, beat McIlory in a playoff at the Honda Classic. Patrick Reed, 44th in the world, took down an elite field at the WGC-Cadillac Championship. Matt Every, 94th, got by a struggling Scott at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

And then came the biggest shocker. Steven Bowditch, the 339th-ranked player in the world before the Valero Texas Open, managed to stagger across the finish line ahead of a guy like Matt Kuchar to win his first PGA Tour event.

The loss of Woods definitely takes a bit of the edge off the Masters, but only a bit. The guys in the green jackets have been putting this thing on since 1934 and regardless of who played, it has always been a focal point of the golf season.

While Woods rests and recuperates for however long is necessary, an opportunity exists for one of these other guys to establish himself as the best in the game.

And don’t expect those wacky winners to go away. I think there’s something in the air this year that’s allowing this to happen.

It’s Masters Week.

n n n

Do you have an interesting story about your club or course or an individual who has done something special, let me know. Send your story ideas to mike.dudurich@gmail.com.