Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson: Witnessing the End of an Era

Before I get going, one thing needs to be understood. Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods are the two golfers most responsible for making me a fan of golf, so my emotions are certainly strong here.

But regardless of what emotions I (or anyone else) may have, it is very likely that the era of Woods and Mickelson being golf's gold standards is gone, never to return.

Currently, Lefty is fourth in the world rankings while Tiger is eighth. On the surface, that doesn't mean anything. It's hard to complain too much about a top-five and a top-10 ranking.

That's true, but we can't forget that since the late-'90s, these two have been ranked No. 1 and 2 more often than not. Four and eight just doesn't sound as appealing.

This doesn't mean that neither will ever win again. It doesn't even mean that they won't win majors again. Both of them have a great history at Augusta and can contend there until they are in their late 40's.

Heck, a healthy Tiger could still have a good five to 10 years left. As bad as he has looked recently, it's not inconceivable that he will still get to Jack Nicklaus' record of 18 majors, although that gets less likely with every passing major.

But for nearly all of the 21st century, Tiger and Phil have been golf's gold standard. This has even been the case when they weren't ranked 1 and 2. Sure, guys like Ernie Els, Vijay Singh and Padraig Harrington have had strong runs, but it always came back to the two Americans.

Woods has always been the superior player while Mickelson was more popular, at least with fans of golf.

Love him or hate him, if Tiger never swings another golf club, he is a top-five golfer of all time, and that's a conservative guess.

Mickelson will never be rated that high, but he may be the most popular golfer since Arnold Palmer. The fans love his go for broke style. Additionally, he has a way of connecting with fans that few athletes have.

When he won the Masters in 2004, we all celebrated with him. When he lost the US Open in 2006, his many fans lost it with him.

All of his highs and lows have been so public that most fans of the game just can't help but become emotionally attached. Honestly, that's what following sports is all about.

But now we have to face facts.

Mickelson will be 41 years old in June. He has only won once since the 2010 Masters. He followed that win up in 2011 with a T27 at Augusta. The most recent Masters was his first time finishing out of the top-25 since 1998.

He plays very well in California and Arizona, so it's not at all likely that he won't pick up a win or two there for several seasons to come.

Currently, he has four majors. It's doubtful that he'll never win another major, but predicting anything more than two more for his career would be a bit bold.

As for Tiger, there is nothing that can be said about him that hasn't been said.

He will be 36 years old at the end of 2011, which isn't terribly old for a golfer. His recent front-nine 42 and subsequent withdraw from the Players Championship is troubling, but people should be careful not to react too strongly toward it.

Truthfully, if he can find consistent health with his knee, Tiger can regain his spot at the top of the rankings. But even if that does happen, he will never be as dominant as he once was.

When Woods was in his prime, we could almost pencil him in for two majors a season. It's not a guarantee that we will never see that again, but the odds seem long.

Since 2008, Woods has consistently had injury issues, specifically in his knee. That makes his ability to find consistent health a serious question mark.

Everyone knows about his personal issues and that he hasn't won since they came to light.

This isn't a doom-and-gloom prediction. It's just simply looking at the ages and recent accomplishments of the two golfers and realizing that their best days are likely behind them.

Lastly, the world of golf has been overtaken by an incredible youth movement, although you may not know it just looking at the top-10 in the world rankings.

The fields have never been deeper than they are now. The competition is so strong that it's hard to imagine Phil or Tiger matching their best career runs.

These two will still win and they will likely still win majors. We'll still see them on Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup teams.

When we look at what the world of golf has given us in the last few seasons, it becomes more apparent that we may have to look elsewhere to find our gold standards in the game of golf.