Thank goodness all that politicking, pamphlet pushing and placard parading is over eh?

In the thunderous aftermath of that big vote last week, this correspondent booked a table in a restaurant for a romantic plate of egg and chips with the better half and discovered the ruddy SNP had taken that seat as well. Trudging wearily outside and into the dank, sodden streets in search of sustenance, I caught a glimpse of myself in the window of the eatery and was convinced that is was the bold Nicola Sturgeon hosting my own reflection. Talk about dominance.

Here in the world of golf, the days of Tiger's tyrannical rule have long been consigned to the archives. As he traipsed and toiled his way to a share of 69th in The Players' Championship on Sunday - his worst in the PGA Tour's flagship event - Woods must have felt like a flustered old Scottish Labour MP trying to hold on to his constituency.

Rickie Fowler's astonishing victory in the so-called 'fifth major' will linger long in the memory as the young Californian produced the kind of finish that grandstands were invented for. Covering his last six holes in six-under, with an inspired, fearless haul of four birdies and an eagle, the 26-year-old propelled himself from being a mere footnote in dispatches to the big story as he eventually triumphed in a play-off with Sergio Garcia and Kevin Kisner. In the space of a month, the new guard that has energised the global game have flexed their youthful muscles and, importantly, have continued to capture the public's imagination. Jordan Spieth won the Masters and took some of the spotlight off Rory McIlroy who swiftly decided he wasn't having any of that so he went out and captured the WGC Matchplay crown. Now Fowler, who had been upstaged by both of his peers, has the biggest win of his career to date. The timing of it was perfect.

In this fickle game, where fevered observers can rapidly flip from drooling adulation to shrugging indifference like hyperactive clowns playing with a light switch, Fowler has been almost deified and doubted in equal measure. He was burdened with the expectation of being golf's next big thing, he won at a young age and was questioned for not immediately backing that success up and he has watched his contemporary McIlroy surge to new heights while being dunted into the shadows by the emergence of Spieth. Prior to The Players' Championship, a golf website published the results of an anonymous poll it conducted among players and loosely found that Fowler was the most overrated campaigner on tour. The players who take part in such crass, dumbed down nonsense - like the ones who also helped unmask Bubba Watson as the most unpopular player on tour in the week of the Masters - should hang their heads for A: agreeing to take a pop at their fellow professionals in the first place under the cowardly guise of anonymity and B: fuelling such shameless, low level online profiteering by the magazine in question.

Thankfully, Fowler rose above this petty, pointless poking and made a significant statement of intent with the performance of his life which illustrated all his natural golfing flair and vigour.

Ever since Old Tom Morris and Willie Park Senior crossed clubs on a regular basis back in a more genteel golfing age, this Royal & Ancient game has always thrived when two or more powers collide.

When Woods was raising the bar, breaking records and changing the face of golf during his pomp, he was doing it all by himself. Nobody could touch him. The viewing public loved this dictatorship as Woods ruled the roost yet they still craved the head-to-head battles and the development of a rivalry that would entice and endure. In McIlroy, Spieth and Fowler, salivating commentators are desperate for this triumvirate to have showdowns, shoot-outs and square-goes with each other for years to come.

Of course, rivalries can't just be forged and fabricated on the keys of a laptop. With so many variables and so much randomness in play, the only predictable thing in this game is the unpredictability. If the player ranked at number 76 in the world of tennis, for instance, beat the man at the top of the global order, it would be a net-shuddering shock. In golf, it's just a run of the mill occurrence and the best can lose to the so-called rank and file all the time. The aforementioned Kisner, for example, was ranked 123rd in the world at Sawgrass at the weekend but, in this pursuit of fine margins, it could easily have been the unsung 31-year-old perched proudly with the bounty at the end of a pulsating Sunday. But that's the wonder of the global game which, in the modern era, is defined by its staggering strength in depth. The next step for Fowler is a major win. He finished inside the top-five in all four last year and will now be galvanised ahead of next month's US Open.

In McIlroy, Spieth, Fowler and others, the future of golf is here today ... but you never know what the future will hold.