Who Is Chasing Tiger’s Tail?

*Adam and Tiger

The three golfers most likely to usurp Tiger Woods' reign at number one 

IF the OfficialWorld Golf Ranking is your sole measuring stick, 2013 was very good for TigerWoods. Having seen his ranking sink as low as No. 58 in 2011, Tiger reclaimed top billing in March and stayed there for the rest of the year.
However, unlike his previous reigns at No. 1, this time there is an asterisk on Tiger's status: the nagging absence of a 15th major on his CV.
Prior to the 2008 US Open, Tiger's worst run without a major win was 10 tournaments: from 1997 US Open to 1999 British Open and from 2002 British Open to 2004 US PGA. Since his US Open victory in '08, Tiger has played in 18 majors for no wins, one second, one T3, four T4s.
Surely Tiger will win another major?
He probably will, but 50 years ago, after Arnold Palmer grabbed his fourth Masters and seventh major in seven years, no one suspected 34-year-old Arnie wouldn't win any more.
Tiger is 38 and there is plenty of talent opposing him, from seasoned names such as Mickelson, Kuchar, Rose and Snedeker to new stars like Day, Matsuyama and Spieth. But three names stand out …
ADAM SCOTT's memorable Augusta triumph gives him the chance in 2014 to do what just one male Australian golfer (Peter Thomson) has ever done: win a major in successive years.
Currently ranked second, to become No. 1 Scott needs Tiger to decline a little and to win a string of tournaments including a major; in other words, to have another year like the last.
Based on past performances, the courses for this year's majors might set up well for him. The previous time the US Open was at Pinehurst was 2005, when Scott was just three off the lead after 36 holes, the first time he'd made a US Open cut. A year later, Scott finished T8 in the British Open at Royal Liverpool, at the time his best finish in a major.
But a word of warning: a world No. 2 has not won a major since Tiger claimed the 2005 Masters when he was ranked second behind Vijay Singh.


In 2013, HENRIK STENSON became the first man since the ranking was introduced in 1986 to go from outside the top 50 at the start of a calendar year to the top three by the end of that year. Reflecting how prodigious this achievement is, only three golfers have ever climbed from outside the top 30 at the start of a calendar year to inside the top five by the end of that same year: Tiger (No. 33 to No. 2 in 1997), Steve Stricker (63 to five in 2007) and Stenson (53 to three in 2013).
Stenson enjoyed a remarkable 'second half ' that included top-3 finishes at the British Open and US PGA, plus FedexCup and Race to Dubai victories.
Golf Digest now describes him as the world's 'best player without a major'.
RORY MCILROY's dramatic Australian Open victory over Scott might not have completely rescued his year, but at least all was not lost.
McIlroy started 2013 on top of the ranking but as he walked up the final fairway at Royal Sydney he was No. 6, the second-biggest fall by a No. 1 in a calendar year since the ranking's inception.
Only Greg Norman, who crashed from No. 1 to No. 18 in 1998, has fallen further.
Fourteen times out of 27, the top golfer on NewYear's Day has been No. 1 at Christmas. Of course, Tiger is mostly responsible for this - he did it nine times - but it's still a remarkable statistic.
Only three times (Norman in 1991 and 1998, McIlroy in 2013) has the No. 1 on January 1 dropped to lower than No. 4 by year's end.
The first time for Norman, it was a victory in the 1992 Canadian Open that signalled he was back.
Ten months later, the Shark claimed his second British Open in spectacular style and he was No. 1 again by February 1994.
Could Rory's Aussie Open triumph be the start of a similar resurgence?