While Ian Poulter was on his way to a 4 and 2 victory over Paul Casey in a drama-less all-England final Sunday in the Arizona high desert, the elephant in the room was Woods.

During Tiger’s absence, golf commentators have been loath to speaketh the name of the great one, as if scanning the sky for lightning bolts. But late in the final round Sunday, the silence was broken by none other than PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem, who addressed Woods’ mea culpa with Jim Nantz.

“He’s our No. 1 player. Obviously we want him back,” Finchem said.

Then it was back to the “action,” in which Casey trailed from the seventh hole to the 34th. Match play can be riveting when it is close. But the championship only seems to deliver when three-time winner Woods plays.