Golf Desperately Needs a Worthy Opponent for Tiger Woods

Golf has been yearning for years for a player to come along and establish himself as a worthy opponent to Tiger Woods.

Byron Nelson was challenged by Ben Hogan.

Arnold Palmer was challenged by Jack Nicklaus.

Jack Nicklaus was challenged by Tom Watson.

Tiger Woods is consistently challenged by, well, nobody.

The PGA Tour has more young talent now than at any other time during Woods’ 12-year reign as the tour’s dominant force.

Phil Mickelson looked as if he had finally arrived after his win at the 2004 Masters, which he followed with major wins in each of the next two years at the PGA Championship in 2005 and the Masters again in 2006.

Adam Scott is 27 years old, has one of the best swings on tour and has won a couple of big tournaments, including the Players Championship in 2004 and the Tour Championship in 2006.

Sergio Garcia looked as if he would be a worthy opponent to Woods early on in his career before he went on a four year hiatus due to his unpredictable putting stroke.

Geoff Ogilvy won the 2006 U.S. Open and has been a familiar name on the top of many leaderboards since, but he has yet to burst onto the scene as a consistent challenger to Woods in the majors.

Anthony Kim, 23, has been widely touted since joining the tour in 2006. He won his first professional tournament at this year’s Wachovia Championship but has been fairly quiet ever since.

With Woods out for the rest of the season, the stage is set for a good young player to step up and take on the role of Tiger Woods’ greatest competitor.

There are two majors left, the British Open and the PGA Championship as well as the Fedex Cup and the Tour Championship which are essentially wide open in Woods’ absence.

If there was ever an ideal time for a player to step into the role of a worthy opponent to Woods, it is right now.

The opportunity finally exists for a player to step up and dominate in Woods’ absence and provide a new rivalry for Woods upon his return.

As of now, no one has shown the skill, drive or determination to consistently challenge Woods on a weekly basis.

But, up until now, there has not been a real opportunity for a good young player to step in and become the new dominant force on tour, as Tiger never been challenged.

With Woods' recent season-ending knee injury, it has become obvious that the game needs something more than just Tiger Woods to keep the masses interested.

Even upon Woods' return, to take the game’s popularity to the next level, the tour will need something more than just Woods’ pursuit of Nicklaus’ record of 18 major victories.