What a day Sunday was in the world of golf. At the beginning of the week, it looked like Sunday would be all about Lorena Ochoa's farewell. And Ochoa's farewell was poignant. But Sunday turned out not to be about who was departing the golf scene so much as all the young talent that has now arrived.
Take Ochoa's farewell. Lorena finished sixth at the Tres Marias Championship, serenaded by adoring fans in Mexico, celebrated by her fellow LPGA pros. But the one who actually won the tournament was 24-year-old Ai Miyazato, who now has three LPGA wins this year, four total.
Earlier in the day in Japan, one of the LPGA's other superyouth, Jiyai Shin, won the Cyber Agent Ladies tournament. Combined with Ochoa's 6th-place finish, Shin's win moves her to No. 1 in the women's world rankings. Shin is a couple days past 22.
Staying in Japan, Ryo Ishikawa fired a 58 in the final round to win The Crowns tournament, his seventh Japan Tour victory. He's only 18. Ishikawa and Miyazato winning on the same day - can Tokyo withstand the tremors?
And what happened on the PGA Tour? Only the first American win for 20-year-old Rory McIlroy at the Quail Hollow Championship. Since 1970, only four golfers have won on the USPGA before their 21st birthdays: Seve, Phil, Tiger. And now Rory.
Even the old man of today's champions is only 27. That's Alvaro Quiros, the big-bombing Spaniard who won the Spanish Open on the European Tour. Quiros may jump ahead of Sergio Garcia in the new world rankings on Monday; regardless, he's the best Spaniard in golf right now.
And the Asian Tour is off this week, or we might also be talking about Seung-yul Noh, the Korean 18-year-old who leads that tour's money list.
So we say goodbye to Lorena Ochoa today, we wish her well, we thank her for great golf, her humanity, her humility.
And we say hello to the future of golf.
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