The Travails of Being 'The Next Tiger'

It started with one golf shot. One eyes-closed, head pulled, inside-out 6-iron at the Medinah Country Club during the 1999 PGA Championship and the chatter began. Who is in line to be the next Tiger Woods?

The interesting part of that was that Woods was in the midst of claiming just his second major championship, beating out a leg-kicking Sergio Garcia, but people wanted to know right then who we should anoint as the next Tiger. Since baby-faced Sergio, the names have come and gone. We've toyed with David Duval. We've jived with Retief Goosen. We've watched Adam Scott and Anthony Kim and, now, Ryo Ishikawa join the ranks as "next in line." The problem is, it just isn't happening. So what is wrong with our list of "Next Tigers"?

If you were going to make a list of young golfers that have been announced as the next big thing, it would come down to a short list. Sergio, Adam Scott, Kim, McIlroy and Ishikawa.

So far this year, Sergio has just a single top-10 finish on the PGA Tour, ranked 81st in the total driving category he used to dominate. Along with that, Garcia continues to battle the putting demons, struggling to 141st on tour after coming in at 142nd a year ago (this is a huge change since he was 17th in putting average ranking in '07). Garcia is to the point in his career when people are questioning if he'll ever win a major championship, something people would have scoffed at years ago.

Sergio isn't the only one who is having a horrible year.

Adam Scott went to the same coach that helped develop Tiger's swing, and models his game after Mr. Woods. After consecutive years in '07 and '08 when Scott made 88 percent of his cuts on the PGA Tour, the 29-year-old Australian has missed seven of 15 weekends this season, carding just one top-10 all year. His year has been well-documented, and if Scott can't have a good week at Hazeltine, it will mark the third straight year he hasn't finished in the top-10 at a major championship.

Kim is a different type of story. The 24-year-old who used to party too much and practice too little said it was Tiger himself who made him realize that he wasn't taking the game serious enough, and two wins last year was evidence of that. Coming off a great '08, Kim has struggled to just three top-10s, missing the cut at the British and firing a second-round 82 at the Players. The expectations for Kim have been high, and although his year has been fine by most players' standards, a kid with the talent of A-Kim can't be thrilled with his season.

That brings us to McIlroy and Ishikawa. At this point, it isn't fair to expect much in the big tournaments from a 20-year-old and 17-year-old, but the talk has already started. When will they break through? Will they be another dud in the long list of players we hope can match the best start to a golf career that we've ever seen?

Both these kids look to have the ability to win, and win in bulk. Just this year alone, they have combined for three international victories, but is that enough to quiet the critics that can't stand to see another hopeful struggle to break through?

Maybe our expectations are too high, but for the talent that has found its way to rise north, the results have been lukewarm. Maybe this week, at Hazeltine, we'll actually get to see someone break through that we'd hope would. If not, it'll be another long offseason wondering if anyone can ever do a small part of what Tiger has been able to accomplish.