2016 Masters Proving That Golf's Old Guard Is Permanently Part of the Past

The gallery at the 18th hole at Augusta National gave a special applause for ancient Tom Watson, 66 years old and playing the Masters for the final time. It was a thank you for years of greatness. It was goodbye. And next thing you knew, Phil Mickelson was walking up 18, and he deserved the same applause.

For the same reason.

That was the end of the ceremonial part of the Masters, which doesn't usually mark the end of Mickelson's time there. After two rounds, golfers who missed the cut will go home, while Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy play for the title. Spieth, who is four under par going into the weekend, leads McIlroy by one stroke. 

They'll be grouped together Saturday: "I'd rather be playing with someone less threatening, to be honest," Spieth said. "He's certainly proven himself in the majors." 

We already knew that Spieth and McIlroy, and also No. 1-ranked Jason Day, represent the present and the future of golf. But what made Friday different from any other day was how much Mickelson looked like the past. Tiger Woods didn't even play the Masters while he recovers from multiple back surgeries, but something about the scene Friday made it clear that he is past tense, too. 

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Over 17 straight years, from 1997-2013, either Woods or Mickelson, or both, finished in the top 10 at the Masters. In those 17 years, they combined to win seven green jackets. Now, in two of the past three years, neither one of them made it to the weekend. 

Both times, Woods was injured, and Mickelson, who shot a 79 Friday for his worst Masters round ever, missed the cut.

In golf, history doesn't usually just turn pages like this, over the course of a day or two. It usually blends together more with the past and happens gradually. So Woods and Mickelson, the great rivalry, still seemed to be hanging on to the present a little anyway. They still seemed to be in the same league as Spieth/McIlroy until this tournament. 

Unlike tennis players, golfers don't usually age in dog years. But over the past two days, the next great rivalry shut the door on the past one. Here's the uncomfortable truth:

Neither Woods nor Mickelson will win another major. I should probably give myself an out on that, as I was in Scotland standing off the 18th green a few years ago as a 59-year old Watson needed to get on the green and sink one putt to win the British Open. He missed. 

But flukes can happen.

Woods dominated his rivalry with Mickelson. Still, while Mickelson often just played the part of Woods' foil, the truth is that he's one of the all-time greats, too. Golf has been wondering whether Woods will come back and win some more. But the thing that became obvious the past few days is that the issue isn't just his health.

It's his era, the time he represented. It's over. Woods doesn't have injuries, he has decay. He has put such a beating on his body that it fell apart. The same goes for his mind. He isn't hurt; he's old. Too much greatness over too much time beat him up.

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So at 40, he's already old. Mickelson is an old man, too, in a young man's game. He's about to turn 46, and golf writers were talking about Jack Nicklaus' miracle Masters win when he was 46. But forget it. Back then, the game was still about 35-year-olds winning big. Nicklaus was just a few years past his expiration date. 

Spieth is 22 and McIlroy 26. That adds up to 48, which is roughly how old Mickelson is. When Nicklaus beat Greg Norman, he wasn't old enough to be his father. 

The game and the times have changed. Seven golfers are under par at the Masters, and three of them are younger than McIlroy.

It's hard to pinpoint why the game has trended young. But when Woods arrived to win the 1997 Masters, his youth was shocking to the golf world. He was 21. Spieth won last year at 21. Maybe Woods gave younger players confidence. Maybe the courses have gotten so long that they require more power. Maybe kids play so much golf so young now that they're experienced at reading the courses much sooner than they used to be. 

"I don't feel old at all," Mickelson told reporters in his pre-Masters press conference. "I'm in some of the best shape I've been in. A lot of young guys get hurt as they create this violent, connected movement. And I don't believe that's the proper way to swing the golf club."

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He's probably right. And that might be an early warning sign for today's young stars. But they're young and healthy now.

And they are setting up the next great rivalry. McIlroy arrived at the top of the game first among today's young guys and dominated 2014, though he hasn't won a Masters. Last year, Spieth won two majors and created talk about the possibility of winning the Grand Slam.

Mickelson finished second in the Masters last year, as Spieth arrived. It just didn't seem clear at the time how much had changed. That might go down as his Nicklaus moment.

So this year, McIlroy told ESPN after Friday's round that the focus and pressure are off him and on Spieth.

"I definitely feel like I'm coming in here this year with not as much hype or anticipation as the way I approached the golf tournament last year," he said. "...I felt like I was just a part of the narrative rather than being the narrative. And I liked that."

Honestly, part of the narrative before the tournament was whether Woods would be healthy enough and whether Mickelson's recent good play would make him a contender. But golf lucked out with as smooth and quick a transition as possible. 

Hellos and goodbyes all at the same time.

Greg Couch covers golf for Bleacher Report. All quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise indicated.