ESPN Golf

ATLANTA -- Plug in the hype machine. Turn it on. Crank it up.

We've finally found a rival for Tiger Woods and his name is Adam Scott.

Now don't get your knickers in a bunch. We're not suggesting Scott is -- or ever will be -- Woods' equal. No one fills that role and to imply otherwise would prove we've taken one too many belted balatas to the brain.

But here's what Scott can be: Frazier to Tiger's Ali. Agassi to his Sampras. Watson to his Nicklaus.

Every dominant individual athlete in history has benefited from a competitor who pushed him to the limit, gave him a run for the money, even -- dare we say it? -- defeated him once in a while. Call it a necessary evil.

We've been searching for Woods' leading rival for years now. He first wrested away the title of world's top golfer from Greg Norman in 1997, but the Shark was already on the verge of a steady decline. Then 19-year-old Sergio Garcia seemed a natural enemy when he took Woods to the brink at the 1999 PGA Championship, but the rivalry has never developed. Sergio wins the Ryder Cup, Tiger wins everything else. David Duval staked a claim to the role, earning the No. 1 rank for a few weeks in '99 and taking the Claret Jug in 2001, but five years later he's got an APB out for his old swing.

Others remain noteworthy challengers, but have balked when faced with the prospect of seeing Woods eye to eye. Phil Mickelson. Vijay Singh. Ernie Els. Great players in their own right, but each is at least seven years older than Tiger and -- oh, by the way -- he isn't losing sleep over any of 'em.

Of course, it's utterly ironic that we're considering Scott for this portrayal as Tiger's rival following his victory over a Tour Championship field that didn't include Woods. But the way the 26-year-old disposed of his elite competition at East Lake this week -- convincingly, connivingly stretching his lead to three before Sunday's final round, then winning by that same margin -- read like a page torn from Tiger's private diary, "Why I Always Win."

It is hardly a coincidence that Scott so strongly resembles Woods. He's patterned much of his career after the man he's chasing. Earned his country's amateur title as a junior player, just like Tiger. Got some brief collegiate experience, just like Tiger. Captured his initial professional victory at age 20, just like Tiger.

The precocious young Aussie is everything Tiger was at 26 -- talented and athletic, sleek and strong, composed and humble. Everything, that is, except a major champion, but trust us -- that's coming.

He is, in essence, a Tiger clone, all the way down to trusting his game with the man first credited with helping to build Woods into a champion. Scott rarely took a swing on the practice range this week without instructor Butch Harmon lurking as his personal shadow.

Even so, the physical part of the game has never been Scott's biggest hurdle. Instead, it's the mental aspect of becoming a champion that has most stunted his path to superstardom. On Friday, he lamented not having that killer instinct Woods undoubtedly possesses. "You look at how Tiger closes out the deal when he's in contention, and that is something that I need to look at and figure out how I can do that," he said, "because I had two or three really good chances this year to do that and I didn't get it done."

Two days later, Scott got it done for the fourth time in his PGA Tour career -- fifth if you count last year's unofficial, weather-shortened Nissan Open -- melting away the memories of six other top-three finishes this season without a victory. Perhaps more importantly for Scott, the title validated his standing as No. 4 on the Official World Golf Ranking.

"You can't be that 3 or 4 [ranked] player in the world without winning tournaments," said Scott, who owns five other worldwide victories. "That shouldn't happen. You know, I feel more comfortable in that position seeing I've won an event."

Still, the question must be asked: How can a guy who trails Woods' career victory total by half-a-hundred be considered his next true rival? It's all in the words, folks. Most players break out in a cold sweat at the thought of any comparisons to Tiger, but Scott embraces such a notion.

He wants to beat Woods. He wants to be No. 1 in the world.

"That's what I'm one day hopefully going to get to," Scott said. "It might take a while, but I think if I was to be No. 1 in the world at some point in my career, then I think that would be maybe the best achievement I could ever do in golf is get past Tiger Woods."

Adam Scott might never get there. But it's sure going to be fun watching him try.

Jason Sobel is ESPN.com's golf editor. He can be reached at Jason.Sobel@espn3.com