Replacing a Legend

   For the last several years since Tiger Woods' life spun a 180 both on- and off the course, the golf world has been eager to find a replacement to the hype and legacy of one of its brightest stars. After that Thanksgiving, Tiger has clearly not been the same. And his struggles have undeniably left a bit of a void. Naturally, people have been looking for a generational player to turn this around and to take up the mantle. But after this week, it seems that the golf world has begun to learn that they may be fortunate enough to have a few stars who may take up the torch.
   For too long during Tiger's post-scandal decline, the pundits wanted to crown the next Tiger Woods individually. First, I think this overstates Tiger's legacy. To clarify, Tiger is undoubtedly one of the best golfers to ever live. But the very fact that people in Tiger's prime looked to players like Vijay Singh early, and Phil Mickelson to challenge Tiger is indicative of the desire to have more than one dominant figure on the main stage.
   That's what I find so great about Jordan Spieth's dominant victory at Augusta this weekend. Spieth played one of the greatest weekends in golf at the Masters, finishing in the Top 5 scores (including ties) each day of the tournament. And yet, almost all of the pre-tournament talk focused on whether anyone could beat Rory McIlroy, Tiger's next potential heir. But what Spieth's weekend taught us was that Rory doesn't need to be Tiger's only heir. Just like Tiger had Vijay and Phil, the new generation should embrace the possibility of the growing rivalry between Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth. Golf will be better if both of them emerge as stars, rather than one at the expense of the other.