By Doug Ferguson,AP Golf Writer

Aaron Baddeley never imagined it would take this long to win on the PGA Tour.

Golf seemed easy when he was an 18-year-old amateur who caused such a sensation with his victory in the 1999 Australian Open that the Masters and U.S. Open gave him exemptions, and Tiger Woods called him a better ball-striker than he was at that age.

His swing was fundamentally sound.

And when Baddeley refused to flinch against Colin Montgomerie and Greg Norman to win the Australian Open seven years ago, he had a clear of vision of where he wanted to go, how to get there and whom he had to beat.

“My goal is to become better than Tiger,” Baddeley said at the time. “If Tiger is the best player in the world, and I want to be the best player in the world, then I have to be better than Tiger. He’s the benchmark, and I want to get better than the benchmark.”

Instead, Baddeley has become another statistic.

His victory in the Verizon Heritage is cause for celebration. The seven-year journey to a PGA Tour title ended with a 7-foot par putt that curled in the right side of the cup on the final hole for a one-shot victory over former U.S. Open champion Jim Furyk. And the way Baddeley raised his arms over his head and closed his eyes showed this was as much about relief as sheer satisfaction.

“I feel like I’ve been out here forever,” he said. “And I’m only 25.”

In a peculiar way, though, his victory was another reminder that youth continues to fall short of expectations.

Pretenders

Baddeley joins a list of other young players who were billed as the next challenge to Woods, but who have not done anything to merit further consideration.

“I’ve worked hard since I first started playing the game at age 7, and that’s always been my goal to be the best player in the world,” Charles Howell III said at the Memorial in 2001 during his rookie-of-the-year season. He won a year later, is still sitting on one PGA Tour victory and is no longer the highest-ranked Howell (that would be David Howell of England).

Justin Rose, who tied for fourth as a 17-year-old at the 1998 British Open, finally has a PGA Tour card, but not a trophy. Adam Scott was 23 when he became the youngest winner of The Players Championship, but he has yet to contend in a major. David Gossett won the U.S. Amateur at Pebble Beach in 1999, shot 59 at Q-school a year later and won the John Deere Classic in 2001, the first player since Woods to win a PGA Tour event on a sponsor’s exemption. Now, he doesn’t even have status on the Nationwide Tour.

Has anyone heard from Ty Tryon lately?

Casey Wittenberg?

Before anyone knew of Baddeley, the promising young star was 19-year-old Sergio Garcia, who chased Woods down the fairways of Medinah at the ’99 PGA Championship, went 3-1-1 at the Ryder Cup and embraced a rivalry before he had a driver’s license.

Garcia falling short

After winning twice on the PGA Tour, Garcia began 2002 by saying his goal was to become the first player to win the money title on both sides of the Atlantic. And when asked that day whether he was closing the gap on Woods, Garcia replied, “He’s 26. I think that I can be as good as he is at 26 when I’m 26, or hopefully sooner.”

Garcia now is 26 and no closer to Woods that he was four years ago, starting with the fact he hasn’t won a major.

Instead, Woods’ challengers are coming from experience.

Vijay Singh was approaching 40 when he set a target of becoming No. 1 in the world at the end of the 02 season. He worked harder than ever on the range and in the gym for two years, and finally took Woods down in 2004 by winning nine times, rising to No. 1 after beating Woods head-to-head on Labor Day outside Boston.

The latest challenge is from Phil Mickelson, who turns 36 during the U.S. Open, where he will be going after his third consecutive major.

Ernie Els has been part of the picture as long as Mickelson, winning the U.S. Open right after Woods’ watershed victory in the ’97 Masters, and winning the British Open in 2002 when Woods was going after the Grand Slam. The Big Easy turns 37 in October.

It’s not too late for a youngster to emerge as a serious threat to Woods.

There is plenty of attention on rookie J.B. Holmes after he won in Phoenix by seven shots, and on Camilo Villegas of Columbia with his three top-3 finishes But until any of them wins consistently against strong fields, or captures a major, who’s to say they won’t be another David Gossett.

or Justin Rose?

AP-ES-04-18-06 1459EDT