So if it’s true that Tiger Woods’ domination of professional golf is over, as the possibility was discussed last week in this space, is there hope for the future of the PGA Tour?

Anthony Kim . . .  Ricky Barnes . . . Kevin Na . . .

There’s more. Lots more. At no time in recent memory has the PGA Tour roster been as teeming with young talent as it is today.

Paul Casey . . . Sean O’Hair . . . Ricky Fowler . . . Rory McIlroy . . . 

Woods was so dominant for so long, and with no youthful heir apparent in sight, that golf fans feared for the game’s future after Tiger retired. 

Louis Oosthuizen . . . Camilo Villegas . . . Hunter Mahan . . . Alvaro Quiros . . .

Tiger seemed to be bigger than the game itself and there was concern it would not survive in the post-Woods era, whenever that end arrived.

J.B. Holmes . . . Martin Kaymer . . . Ryan Moore . . . Jason Day . . .

The other dominant golfers of the Woods’ era — Mickelson, Els, Goosen, Garcia, Singh — are on the downside of their careers without ever reaching the pinnacle that Woods has dominated since 1997.
 Ryo Ishikawa . . . Saskatchewan’s own Graham DeLaet . . . Charl Schwartzel . . . Edoardo Molinari.
All these names, all these great players, all still in their 20s. All waiting to knock Woods out of the No. 1 spot in the world ranking. All showing lots of game and no fear.

 This week, as the world’s best gather at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin for the PGA, the final major championship of 2010, all eyes will nonetheless be on Woods as he tries to rebound from a season of personal hell. But if the PGA plays out like the first three majors (the Masters, Mickelson; the U.S. Open, Graeme McDowell; the British Open, Oosthuizen), then the champion will be someone other than El Tigre.

A good bet to win? One of the under-30s listed above. The changing of the guard in professional golf continues.

• Blogger Bill Littlejohn, on Terry Bradshaw’s new RV endorsement: “Guess he wanted to sell something he could spell.”

• Scott Ostler of the San Francisco Chronicle: “(Hall of Fame pitcher) Gaylord Perry loaded up baseballs with substances foreign and domestic. It’s probably no coincidence that nine of Gaylord’s catchers died of mysterious bacterial infections.”

• Toronto comedian Frenchie McFarlane: “I was divorced by my first wife for not only being addicted to sports on TV, but also because I had yellow budgies living in my armpits.”

• Janice Hough, leftcoastsportsbabe.com: “One of the University of California’s top football recruits, Chris Martin, has decided to transfer to Florida. Apparently he says being at Cal would have meant too many distractions – like classes.”

•“Jayson Stark, ESPN.com: “One thing we know about the Phillies is: They sure can corner the market on ‘Roys.’ Apparently, Roy Hobbs, Roy Smalley, Brandon Roy and Siegfried & Roy were all unavailable this week. So instead, the Phillies traded for Roy Oswalt. And now they’d love to assume that just pairing him with Roy Halladay will be enough to restart the engines on their October Express. ”

• Nationals pitcher Miguel Batista understood the negative fan reaction he received in Washington D.C. while filling in for injured hurler Stephen Strasburg, who was a late scratch: “Imagine if you go to see Miss Universe,” he said, “then you end up having Miss Iowa, you might get those kind of boos.”

• Greg Cote, Miami Herald: “Ilya Kovalchuk, hockey’s top free agent, signed a 17-year deal to stay in New Jersey — only to see the NHL reject the contract as circumventing the salary cap. Cannot confirm the Devils now propose to pay Kovalchuk the minimum salary, but with a $102 million bonus for keeping his sideburns neat.”

Email brucepenton2003@yahoo.ca