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IT TURNS out when Adam Scott crosses the Pacific to start a new season on the US PGA Tour next month he won't be on foot.
That achingly disappointing bogey at the last of 288 awe inspiring holes in Australia was - with Scott's quintuple bogey nine during the World Cup and some missed putts on the last day at Royal Sydney - a rare sign of fallibility from a man who had been turning water hazards into wine.
From the moment Scott signed the first of thousands of autographs on the Gold Coast, to the moment he was followed up the 18th at Royal Sydney by a Normanesque throng, Scott's demeanour and play during his homecoming parade could not be faulted.
Yes, Scott fell either a poor club selection or perhaps an adrenalin charged swing short of completing the Triple Crown. But not since Norman's swashbuckling days has a player created such excitement, or delivered such routine excellence.
And Norman was often playing in star-studded fields at a time when Australian tournaments offered more than chump change by global standards; and when greater media exposure and higher participation rates meant the baked-on golf audience was larger than now.
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So, having used his Masters victory to give Australian golf precious momentum, what next for Scott?
As he made a mockery of Royal Sydney last Thursday with that exquisite 62, it was tempting to suggest he would return to the international arena and enjoy similar dominance. In that context, Rory McIlroy's intense final day challenge was a timely cold shower.
Rather than some kind of Tigeresque mauling of the world's best, the reasonable expectation is that Scott will merely continue to put himself in contention in the majors. A position that, in turn, creates an intense test of technique, character and course management.
Scott's many good rounds here were a reminder of the sublime golf and measured temperament that won the Masters. His last hole at Royal Sydney was a mini-version of his crash at Royal Lytham and St Annes in 2012 when he surrendered a four-shot lead with four to play.
That day Scott did not necessarily hit the ball badly, or even ''choke'' as some inevitably suggested. He too often hit in the wrong places. Just as he did with a well-struck - too well struck - approach to the 18th.
Adam Scott after missing his putt on the 18th to lose the Australian Open. Picture: Phil Hillyard Source: News Limited
You also need to factor in the calibre of the opposition Scott meets outside Australia. Tiger Woods remains a force, McIlroy has worked out which end of his new clubs to grip, Jason Day reeks of a major title and the laconic Lee Westwood will win a major somewhere - surely. Scott is the world No.2 but, more realistically, one of a clutch of equals.
But what Scott and Day have demonstrated in the past month is that, unlike star-depleted tennis, Australia's best is more than good enough to produce consistently excellent performances.
It is difficult to imagine Australia's male tennis players emulating even that brief period when Pat Rafter and Lleyton Hewitt won majors and Mark Philippoussis made a Wimbledon final. But with Scott, Day and a bunch of experienced and promising young players, contemporary Australian players could certainly recreate golf's most recent golden patch when Norman, Wayne Grady, Ian Baker-Finch and Steve Elkington won majors.
This is Australian golf's blessing. Even at a time when club memberships have declined and the local tournament scene dwindled, the game continues to produce a production line of outstanding champions and promising juniors.
Why? Unlike some sports, golf's talent identification and coaching academies - in both the government and private sector - flourished in the period when interest in the game was at its peak. Scott's success should help ensure the driving ranges are well stocked with aspiring young players.
Unfortunately we don't see the most talented players at home often. Which in turn makes it vital for the game's long term health that the homegrown stars perform, on and off the fairway, when they do play here.
Jason Day's victory at the World Cup, in trying personal circumstances, was outstanding. Scott's entire Australian season was an absolute triumph.
For local authorities promoting the game here in the past few years must have seemed, at times, like making a 260 metre carry across a pond to a rock hard green. This week it must seem like a tap in.
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