With the 2012 U.S. Open set to kick off, it's now been four years since Tiger Woods's last victory at a major, his dramatic victory on one leg at the 2008 US Open.
As Carl Steward of the Silicon Valley Mercury News points out, no golfer has been able to take advantage of Tiger's absence. The last 14 majors have had 14 different individual champions, the second-longest streak without a repeat champion since the 1934.
If a new champion is crowned at the Olympic Club in San Francisco next weekend, this streak will be tied with a four-year run that began in 1998 for the longest streak.
Of the top 25 golfers in the world, 12 are among the 14 who have won major championships in the last four years. The other 13 are perhaps the biggest difference in modern golf, as there is a much larger pool of players capable of winning a major than at any point in the history of the sport.
For all your news and updates in the run up to the 2012 U.S. Open at Olympic, visit SB Nation's dedicated golf hub. Be sure to head over to USOpen.com for even more coverage from the event.
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