In the aftermath of their loss, players were described as “leading the tributes”. Peter Dawson, chief executive of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews, called it “very, very sad”. His counterpart at the European Tour, George O’Grady, was “shocked”. Paul Azinger, the US Ryder Cup captain, sent a bouquet of flowers, and regretted not adding a note of condolence.

It is a wonder they are not wearing black armbands at this weekend’s BMW International. In case you hadn’t noticed, Tiger Woods is alive and well and requiring only surgery to his knee, as well as rest for a broken shinbone. What’s more, if he is back as soon as those close to him are predicting, golf will be no more in need of a life-support machine than he is.

A degree of perspective is in order. Woods’s courageous victory in last week’s US Open, achieved with a ruptured cruciate ligament and a double stress fracture of the tibia, was a mind-blowing reminder of his importance to the game, but he isn’t leaving it for good, or even for a long time. He is out for the rest of the season, which in Woods’s world amounts to just eight or nine tournaments, only one of which is in Europe.

He will miss two majors, a Ryder Cup event in which he has so far made no difference to the outcome, and a thing called the FedEx Cup that has yet to capture the imagination in America. One leading surgeon suggests he could be back within three months, which is only one more than he missed after the Masters. If that is too long for fans of Woods, it may not be enough for lovers of golf. The two, remember, are very different. The greatest player ever has transformed the sport, transcended it, but he is not essential to its weekly rhythm, the heart-beat that will give life to the game long after he is gone.

Sure, he will be missed at The Open, where for a week golf becomes a national sport, the masses’ knowledge of which begins and ends with the guy in the red shirt. Instead, they will have to make do with Ian Poulter, and Ian Poulter’s trousers.

Woods will be missed also at the Ryder Cup, where he is extracted from his natural habitat, and exposed as a freak show. This time, it will be Phil Mickelson’s turn to pretend that the match against Europe means more to him than individual glory. Yet those who follow more closely the game’s routine will be excused if they notice the difference only now and then. So focused is Woods on the majors that he doesn’t play in much else anyway. As he moves closer to the 18 won by Jack Nicklaus, the world No 1 has been steadily cutting back his schedule. Having entered 26 tournaments in 2005, 21 in 2006 and 17 in 2007, the surprise now is when he turns up, not when he stays away. Those events he was lined up for between now and the end of the year will have neither the crowds nor the TV ratings they hoped for, but with their sponsors already committed, it can be written off as a blip.

Provided his absence is brief, and he returns in good shape, it may not be such a bad thing. Those who have been suffocated by his brilliance could do with a breather, a chance to catch up, gain confidence and, even if it is only temporarily, take advantage of his handicap. Should Mickelson win 280 ranking points between now and the end of the year – a total he would accumulate if he wins a major, a WGC and two other PGA Tour events – he would replace Woods as world No 1. It is asking a lot, but at least the game is back on.

Forget the theory that victories in the weeks ahead will be devalued. A ‘w’ is a ‘w’, as Woods would say. “In four years’ time, you won’t know if Tiger Woods was playing or not,” says Colin Montgomerie.

In truth, a single pretender to his throne will probably not emerge. Nobody else in today’s game has triumphed in more than three majors. Mickelson is the only multiple event winner on this year’s PGA Tour. A glance back at the runners-up in the 11 tournaments Woods has won out of his last 14 reveals a range of names, none of them heavyweights. The events Tiger withdrew from between the Masters and the US Open were won by Adam Scott, Anthony Kim and Sergio Garcia, who made a point of thanking the world No 1 in his victory speech at the Players Championship. Woods’s absence is a brief opportunity for the best young players to build a platform hitherto denied them.

The effect of his injury on the Ryder Cup will be fascinating. His record of just 10 wins and two halves from 25 matches is not all it should be. Either the walking brand name is uncomfortable as part of a team, or he is dragged down by his playing partners, some of whom are said to be unnerved by his presence. It’s just possible that the Americans could discover unprecedented unity without him.

All of which will do the game no harm, as long as he returns to his best, or at least something approximating it. Should a challenge materialise in the months ahead, it will have more significance if he rises to it. A Tiger Woods diminished by his knee, forced to protect it by slowing his swing, and persuaded to play only a skeletal schedule indefinitely, would be a blow of more serious proportions. Then there would be cause for mourning, for it would be at this point that the viewers turned off for good, and the sponsors called it a day.

The signs are it won’t come to that. “He’s going to be better than ever,” says his coach, Hank Haney. “His knee hasn’t been right for a long, long time and he’s won what, 11 of his last 14 tournaments, with two seconds and a fifth? After they get this fixed, how can anybody think he won’t play better than ever?”

Which is all the more reason to enjoy his absence while it lasts.