Golf's heroes are steadfast. They last, it often seems, forever. Tennis stars ripen before 20 and are rotten before 30. Football players go out quickly with a bang and a surgeon's knife.
Basketball players lose a step, then lose a job.
A few baseball players stick around as designated fatmen, others as crafty old pitchers. But even baseball can't match golf for its aging and resilient heroes. Jack Nicklaus has been playing major championship golf for more years than many of his fans have been alive. It was fitting, then, that the future of golf surfaced at this championship. With no Nicklaus, the future emerged center stage.