Apparently, PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem was so focused on the future and his planned NASCAR-like finish for 2007 that he didn’t see the pile-up coming for this week’s season-opening Mercedes Championship in Hawaii.

But going into Turn One of ’06, the Tour already has had its first major fender-bender, as Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Retief Goosen and Padraig Harrington have decided to skip the event. And none of those headliners cited injuries.

This has to be a setback for the Commish, who is currently negotiating the Tour’s future war chest with the major television networks. The worst-case scenario for Finchie is that his stars become too independent, and right now, they’re teetering on anarchy by dissing what most consider to be a marquee event.

Why would Tiger, Lefty, Paddy and the Goose turn down a week at the posh Kapalua Resort? The reasons are many -- “I’m tired,’’ “The family,’’ “It’s a long way to travel’’ -- but the bottom line is with a $5.4 million purse, the Mercedes is just one of 48 tournaments on the $255 million gravy train.

Of all the excuses, Tiger’s seems to be the best. “I haven’t had an off season, and I need one,’’ Woods said. Considering his Target World Challenge was less than a month ago, and he played in three other Silly Season events, who is to say otherwise?

As a result of the no-shows, the Mercedes will have its smallest field in years -- 28 players. The best of the rest include Vijay Singh, Sergio Garcia and Jim Furyk. Still, you have to wonder how much TV will be consumed by fans watching the likes of Jason Bohn, Bart Bryant, Lucas Glover, Carl Pettersson, West Short Jr., Heath Slocum and Vaughn Taylor.

It’s the biggest story yet, although here is a short-order list of what else we can expect on Tour in 2006:

TIGER GOES GLOBAL

Forget about the fact that Woods will miss his fifth straight FBR Open, as the annual stop at the TPC of Scottsdale is now among the multitude that never are considered by the world’s No. 1 ranked player. In fact, Woods plans to take his game to such places as Dubai (over the FBR), Japan, China, Germany, England (twice) and Ireland in the coming year. Toss in the other three major championships to go along with the British Open, and that means Woods will play in nine or 10 regular-season events this year -- and all of those will be affiliated financially with Team Tiger. You’ve heard it before, but now it’s more apparent than ever that Woods is bigger than the Tour.

LEFTY’S HAT TRICK

If there was ever a season that depicted Mickelson’s career to the max it was 2005. After winning the Masters the year before and raising expectations, he looked like the same old Lefty at the Masters (10 th), U.S. Open (tie for 33 rd) and British Open (tie for 60th). Then, just when most had written Phil off, he rises from the ashes to capture the PGA Championship. Holy cow, this isn’t as difficult as Mickelson has been making it out! Armed with that confidence and the fact that he can recover from the parking lot, he wins the U.S. Open at Winged Foot, a classic course quite similar to Baltusrol, where he won the PGA. Look out career slam (if he can ever figure out the British).

ERNIE BOUNCES BACK

We haven’t seen Ernie Els since the British Open, as the South African injured his knee in a water skiing accident shortly afterward and has since been rehabbing from surgery. But Els will be back in a big, easy way in 2006, motivated by what he called “the strangest year of my professional career.’’ No kidding, as Els’ best finish was a runner-up at the Sony Open in Hawaii (a year ago next week). Ernie ended the season No. 47 on the money list with $1.6 million, and has since fallen to No. 5 in the world.

RISE AND FALL

Who will be hot besides Tiger? Look for young guns like Luke Donald, Jason Gore, Arron Oberholser and Bill Haas to have break-out years. John Holmes, the runaway leader at the PGA Tour’s qualifying school finals and the guy who reportedly makes John Daly look short, also might make the list if he proves to be the real deal. Not as hot, will be aging veterans Vijay Singh, Fred Funk, Fred Couples and Mark O’Meara, although “Mark O’’ will always have a place to play as long as his good buddy Woods is in the game.

IT WILL HAPPEN

Coming soon will be an announcement that Tucson is replacing La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, Calif., as the official tournament site for the WGC Match Play Championship. Several sources in the Old Pueblo said it’s already a “done deal.’’ The only snag to work out is who will be the new sponsor, as Accenture reportedly doesn’t like the fit or the fact that Tucson has a small airport. But it will happen because Tucson boasts sunny skies, and the Tour owes the sponsoring Conquistadores after the raw deal they stuck them with in 1998.