With the 136th Open Championship, known in the United States as the "British Open" , ending in a playoff between the three day leader Sergio Garcia and final round challenger Padrig Harrington, it has become apparent to most of the golf world that the comet known as "Woods", who miraculously streaked across the sky for the better part of 10 years, has dimmed and the era of the random wanderer is coming to fruition.

Certainly Sergio and Padrig played as well as any  casual observer could hope to do, but once again we were witness to a rather severe bout of hack as the curtain came tumbling  down. Padrig took the Claret Jug for his first major victory simply because he puked less than Sergio.

Besides the painful stumbling down the stretch by the eventual winner, this tournament included near misses from an Argentinean named Romero, a resurgent American named Striker, and a still resolute South African named Els. Today the world was treated to yet another exciting but futile stab at the heart of the Nicklaus legacy by the Greek tragedy known as the Royal and Ancient, or with a more full throat, the 18th at Carnustie.

Time and again sports writers wax poetic about the skill and savvy of the current crop of pretenders to the throne as they jump into the limelight for a day, only to evaporate like so much haze in the mid-July sun of whatever stop the PGA tour resides. Thursday's 65 by most of the tour players is likely to be followed by a 78 on Friday, with very little difference in the conditions of the turf, fairway, rough or green. Certainly today's field can go low, but when you need to go four in a row, they generally got no.

For most of past 50 years we have been blessed to see men take the game by the "Spauldings" and choke the best out of it. Players like Nelson, Hogan, Snead, Palmer, Player, Trevino, Ballesteros, Watson and Faldo all stood against the wind week after week as they amassed multiple Major victories. The wind they stood against was Jack. Unlike the past, no player has been able to consistently shoot the scores needed to compete with Woods at the championship level.

At Carnustie, as the world's best player receded into the background, the rest of the golf world applauded the determination of Padrig Harrington and wept for the continued frustration of Sergio Garcia. Sergio may yet have his day, but collapses like today and the effect it surely will have on his psyche will prevent him from ever being the equal to his compatriot Seve Ballesteros.

As for the rest of the PGA tour, we can only hope that there may someday soon be a player with the skill to do today, and tomorrow, and the day after, what he is capable of doing next week and the week after that. Not for a day, or a tournament, but for a career.

Tiger is doing it. Is there someone else?

Don't bet on it.