Um...I think Colonial is an underrated venue and the point is a good one. It is unfortunate that the length that the ball goes today has made it a bit obsolete for many tour players.
I have no problem with Tiger and the other long ballers to skip that tournament because it takes the driver out of their hands. They are there to win and that decision is no different than Fred Funk skipping a bombers course.
I don't like the way the USGA has run the Open as anyone but $3.3 million to make Torrey Pines an Open course may not have been a bad idea. A US open makes a city a lot of money and that is what it takes to get the Open let them do it. It was surely not a classic design that they redid. Rees Jones redid the Black and made a few controversial changes and that was a classic (and still is). let San Diego have their "Peoples Open" as well.