A Rival For Tiger?

Tell me if you’ve heard this one before: That there is at last a young and talented player who can offer a consistent challenge to the PGA Tour’s reigning King.

According to ESPN’s Jason Sobel, the newest pretender to the throne is none other than Adam Scott.

You had to see this one coming. Scott has just come off a convincing victory at the Tour Championship (albeit one sans Woods and Mickelson), and now has four (or five, depending on how you count them) victories at the tender age of 26. He’s currently ranked fourth in the world rankings.

And that’s enough for the hype to begin.

I think that it shows the hunger golf fans have for someone—anyone—to offer a challenge to Tiger. Heck, most of us would just be happy if the field wouldn’t embarass itself by folding at the most critical moments.

Not that Scott is a bad choice. If you read Sobel’s article, you’ll see that he’s got a lot going for him:

Of course, it’s utterly ironic that we’re considering Scott for this portrayal as Tiger’s rival following his victory over a Tour Championship field that didn’t include Woods. But the way the 26-year-old disposed of his elite competition at East Lake this week—convincingly, connivingly stretching his lead to three before Sunday’s final round, then winning by that same margin—read like a page torn from Tiger’s private diary, “Why I Always Win.”

It is hardly a coincidence that Scott so strongly resembles Woods. He’s patterned much of his career after the man he’s chasing. Earned his country’s amateur title as a junior player, just like Tiger. Got some brief collegiate experience, just like Tiger. Captured his initial professional victory at age 20, just like Tiger.

The precocious young Aussie is everything Tiger was at 26—talented and athletic, sleek and strong, composed and humble. Everything, that is, except a major champion, but trust us—that’s coming.

I have to say that I would like to see it. I like Scott as a player—and from the interviews I’ve seen him do, he strikes me as a personable guy.

But as I said, I’ve heard this story before. And I’m not ready to buy into it.