2017 U.S. Open will be first major since 1994 without Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson

What will the buzz around Erin Hills be like without two of the biggest stars in the sport?

This year at the 2017 U.S. Open, for the first time since the 1994 Masters, Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods will both be absent from a major championship. Well, probably. Woods is definitely out, and barring a weather miracle, Mickelson will not play either. He needs a four-hour (or longer) weather delay on Thursday morning to make his afternoon tee time after attending his daughter's graduation in California.

Mickelson has only missed one major since that 1994 Masters, and it was the 2009 Open Championship. Woods has missed several, but he played that Open in 2009. So it will be weird to see the two biggest stars of their generation absent from the tee sheet on Thursday and Friday.

"This is golf for the next, you know, 10 years, maybe," said two-time U.S. Open winner Andy North earlier this week. "Will we see Tiger play? No one has any idea, particularly him. Phil's situation is a little bit different. He's played enough really good golf that I think he would have been a real factor this week. He is able to raise his level significantly when he gets to major championships. I think this would have been a reasonably good golf course for him, if he could have driven the ball.

"But at the same time, he's doing something that's much more important, to be able to watch your daughter, who is valedictorian and give the speech, that's pretty cool. So good for him.

North is correct about the Mickelson competing part. The greens at Erin Hills are pure, and the fairways are spacious enough to accomodate his waywardness. Coming off his performance in Memphis, he could have absolutely raised the trophy.

"It's a little weird." 2015 winner Jordan Spieth said of not having either one this week. "I didn't think that would happen at this time. But Tiger, coming back from injury, and Phil putting family first, these are reasons that keep you away from golf. And so be it. We've got to go out there and do what we do.

"I hadn't thought about it at all until you just said that. When you say it, one, it kinds of makes me feel like we're maybe 10 years down the road. But at the same time it is what it is and you certainly hope that they're both back playing their best in the near future."

I'm not ready for a future without either one of these golfers. Thankfully, with Mickelson, we likely won't have to live with it for a while. With Tiger, who knows? He could have already played in his last U.S. Open. 

The future is grand (and better than ever) with Spieth, Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas, Rickie Fowler and others filling the void. But part of what makes futures great is that they're still haunted and challenged by the past. It would be sweet to see a 48-year-old Mickelson or 44-year-old Woods prodding and poking at the youngsters as they fight their own wars and try to take their seat at the historic table. We won't get that this week, but this is a good reminder of how much we'll want it in the years to come.