The Loop

5 things that were even more anticlimactic than Adam Scott's rise to World No. 1

Adam Scott became golf's newest World No. 1 on Monday in the most boring way possible: he didn't play that week's tournament, but because of the ranking's algorithm, he displaced the injured Tiger Woods anyway.

But Scott officially becoming the world's best golfer wasn't the game's only anticlimactic moment. Far from it.

The Presidents Cup post-2003

Ernie Els and Tiger Woods' duel in 2003, overseen by Captains Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player, was supposed to be the start of big things for the Presidents Cup. What happened since then? The U.S. won the next five Presidents Cups by a combined 20 points.

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__It was the ultimate "one of those majors Tiger Woods won," but it wasn't supposed to be that way. Tiger started Sunday tied for the lead with Luke Donald, with reigning U.S. Open champion Geoff Ogilvy, Phil Mickelson and Sergio Garcia also in the mix. In the end, that stuff didn't really matter. Tiger's ho-hum 68 in the face of Donald's collapse was enough for a five-stroke victory.

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__Tom Watson, then 59, bogeyed the 72nd hole to slip into a four-hole playoff alone with Stewart Cink. Westwood had just missed out after bogeying three of his last four holes. The tournament was supposed to be building to a crescendo, but instead, it fell utterly flat. Watson bogeyed the first hole, doubled the third and bogeyed the fourth, handing Cink a six-stroke victory in the playoff and his first claret jug.

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David Cannon

__Louis Oosthuizen raced to a five-stroke, 36-hole lead at St. Andrews -- but would he hold on? Would this unproven South African collapse under the pressure of a major championship? No, he wouldn't. Oosthuizen finished with rounds of 69 and 71 to win by seven, ensuring that the back-nine on Sunday at the legendary St. Andrews went almost completely drama-less.

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Adam Scott wasn't the only player to ascent to first in the World Rankings without playing. Westwood snapped Tiger Woods' 281 week-streak atop the rankings from his couch on Oct. 31, 2010. He held the position for 17 weeks.

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