The early returns are in, and Tiger Woods appears primed to raise his game even higher from its already stratospheric level. His eight-shot win at the Buick Invitational last weekend was more than just a breezy walk in the grass, it was a wake up call to his PGA Tour comrades. Most probably left that event uttering the same thing:

Uh-oh.

It’s more than just the rout itself that seems foretelling, it’s the way he went about it. His swing is grooved. His life off the course seems stable. He even successfully rocked what was possibly golf’s first-ever short-sleeved polo/sweater vest/Under Armour combo. Things feel like they’re lining up for him, don’t they?

I’m not going to predict a Grand Slam yet, although I wouldn’t quibble with writers who do. I do think we’re about see a level of golf out of Tiger that hasn’t been seen yet. That should make for an entertaining season.

Meanwhile, K.J. Choi, AAGolf’s 2007 Player of the Year, notched his first win of the season at the Sony Open, taking it in wire-to-wire fashion. I’ve come to realize that Choi’s name is well-suited for one of the more popular debates among media-types: The best player today who has never to have won a Major Championship.

Right now, my list looks like this:

1)      Sergio Garcia

2)      Choi

3)      Adam Scott

4)      Justin Rose

I take Sergio first for all of his success on the world stage, particularly the Ryder Cup. He also should have won last year’s British Open. Scott is quietly the fourth-ranked player in the world right now. Why “quietly?” No majors. Rose has been absolutely shredding the European Tour and has climbed to no. 7 in the rankings.

Together these four names are the reason I can’t predict a Grand Slam for Tiger. For now I’ll say Woods wins two majors, Mickelson gets one, and one guy off this list breaks through to take the other.

Who do you think is the best player without a Major? Let me know at This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it