He’s not a “wuss,” contrary to the opinion of a former New York hockey executive who understandably equates a person’s toughness with the number of missing front teeth.

With all due respect to Mike Milbury, who went off last week on the greatest sportsman on the planet, Tiger Woods has all his choppers intact, and his face lacks the scars and stitches that are badges of honor for hockey players.

Yes, it’s true that golfers never will be mistaken for the goons who patrol the rink, or even professional athletes, period. These guys perform in slacks and dress shoes, some have never seen the inside of a gym, and while playing, they don’t lift anything heavier than a Big Bertha. But when it comes to Woods, the toughness is all between the ears. That will be proven this week at Torrey Pines and, right around this time next year, on the Black Course at Bethpage, pretty close to where Milbury once worked.

The U.S. Open beckons, and also another chance for him to inch closer to Jack Nicklaus’ all-time record for most major victories, and that’s why Woods won’t let a little thing like arthroscopic surgery or Phil Mickelson stop him from getting back to the business of winning.

Woods is the heavy favorite to punish the field and the course this week, mainly because Torrey Pines to him is like a breakaway layup to Kobe. He knows his way around the course, which he’s played countless times in his life, and he’s anxious to get his first major championship of the year. Plus, Woods has the unique situation of playing a few months after getting his knee scoped, and if nothing else, he likes a good challenge, something he rarely gets from Vijay Singh, Jim Furyk, Ernie Els and Sergio Garcia anymore.

He did get a good zinger from former Islanders general manager Milbury the other day. Milbury took offense when Woods, after someone asked his opinion of the Stanley Cup Finals, decided to have some fun. In a rare moment of jest with the public, Woods dismissed the Cup and casually mentioned that “I don’t think anybody really watches hockey anymore.”

That prickled a few puckheads, most notably Milbury, speaking on Canadian TV. “I’m gonna change the name now. It’s going to be Tiger Wuss,” Milbury said. “Here’s a guy that took about three months to get over a single arthroscopic surgery. You look at (Pittsburgh forward) Ryan Malone. His face exploded with a slap shot … and he’s back out in 10 minutes.”

Well, Woods’ recuperative powers may not impress Milbury, but injury is the only thing that can stop him from his continued domination of golf. Woods always is thinking long term. He wants to dominate golf today and tomorrow. His goal is to be great in his 40s, maybe his 50s.

Nobody else has stepped up to give Tiger a run.

You can go back to David Duval, now struggling to find his game. When’s the last time anybody saw Singh in contention? What about Garcia, once crowned as The Next Big Thing by a desperate golf media searching for drama? He trails Tiger in majors 13-0.

Even though Mickelson practically grew up on Torrey Pines and knows every blade of grass on the oceanside course, he’s still breathing Tiger vapors and is resigned to being No. 2 for this tournament, if not for life.