Really there is two ways of looking at it. One is everybody benefits because the best golfer in the world is not competing making it much, much easier on everyone else. The second angle is it hurts them in a way. I'm not talking about ratings because I'm sure most don't really care if the ratings are lower for a few months. I'm talking about the fact that you know that anyone who wins a major with Tiger not in the field will get asked the question "Do you think the major isn't as earned or doesn't carry as much value with the worlds top player not in action?" You know it's going to piss someone off too if it's their first major title and people are discrediting it a bit because Tiger Woods wasn't there.
So it goes both ways. Makes it easier to win for everyone, but makes the win less credible to the fans.