As you know, Tiger Woods isn’t participating in the Masters this year as he recovers from back surgery. Phil Mickelson, hampered by injuries of his own, is limiting his practice in preparation for the season’s first major.

Woods has been a member of the PGA Tour since 1996. Mickelson, for his part, began teeing it up on Tour in 1992. Thus, for the better part of 20 years, the Woods-Mickelson duo have been the top-billed act in professional golf (along with a revolving cast of supporting star).

Much like Ian McKellan and Patrick Stewart, though, who ended their run of No Man’s Land on Broadway this week with an assortment of fabulous photos at New York City landmarks, Tiger and Phil will soon enough be removed from the list of serious contenders for the green jacket.

It’s neither clear who will step up to fill the void on Broadway or inside the ropes at Augusta in the near future.

It seems like Tiger’s “Hello, world” speech was yesterday. Likewise, a fresh-faced Phil Mickelson with much more closely cropped hair seems to just have faded from view. Yet those moments were many years ago and Woods and Mickelson have been dealing with issues that rarely seem to trouble younger men.

After pursuing less invasive solutions, Tiger Woods elected to have back surgery for a bulging disk at the end of March. The disk problem and related back issues have plagued Woods this year. Prior to the surgery, the world No. 1 was off to the worst start to a season of near 20-year professional career.

Mickelson, for his part, has withdrawn twice this year due to injury. While he’s made eight of nine cuts and finishing inside the top 25 five times, the 42-time Tour winner has finished no higher than 12th in an event this year.

Tiger Woods has been a participant in the Masters since 1995, when he was the low amateur in the competition. He first won at Augusta in 1997, and his most recent green jacket came in 2005. It’s equally difficult to believe that Tiger Woods has been playing in the Masters for nearly 20 years as it is to get one’s head around the fact that it’s been nearly 10 years since he won the competition.

Woods is now 38 years old. Assuming he recovers quickly and without incident from this surgery, he can’t have more than another 10 years of peak golf left in him. And Mickelson, 43, likely won’t be a contender for much more than the next five years. Even if he manages to creep up the leaderboard at age 48 or 49, the truth is the same: The era of Woods and Mickelson is drawing to a close.

With all of this in mind, it’s fitting to ask: “What’s next? Who will the next multiple Masters winner be?”

Here’s a look at the last five winners of the Masters and their current ages (skipping Mickelson in 2010):

• Adam Scott: 33
• Bubba Watson: 35
• Charl Schwartzel: 29
• Angel Cabrera: 44
• Trevor Immelman: 34

How many of the above are likely to win another Masters? Adam Scott, now with the major monkey off his back, and Bubba Watson seem to be the most likely. Charl Schwartzel is yet to follow up his Masters victory with another win on the PGA Tour, and he hasn’t finished inside the top 20 at Augusta since winning the green jacket in 2011.

Tiger Woods has won the Masters four times in 17 attempts as a professional. In 20 tries as a pro, Mickelson has won three times. It seems plausible given these rates that Scott, Watson, and Schwartzel could all win another Masters. But several more? I’m not convinced given what I’ve seen from Watson and Schwartzel. Scott, for his part, notched top 10s at both the Open Championship and the PGA Championship last season after his Masters win. The Australian seems to most ready of the bunch to win a bunch of majors, as it were.

But who else?

Looking at the top-10 (ish) finishers from the last three years, here are the players who are still around 35 or under and their career finishes at the Masters:

Of all the players on this list, Jason Day and Adam Scott have performed the best recently. Matt Kuchar, too, has been strong and Brandt Snedeker has been as well. After these four, though, what other (relative) youngster looks primed for a green jacket? Based on recent past performance the list is a short one.

Let’s have a look at the “others.”

A tie for sixth in one’s opening Masters is an incredible achievement. However, it’s difficult to assume that Thorbjorn Olesen will step to the fore and win the tournament when he’s yet to win on the PGA Tour and has missed three of five cuts this season.

Charl Schwartzel has made four of five cuts this season and finished inside the top 10 twice. After a solid, but not spectacular 2013, Schwartzel seems steady, but not exactly poised for a streak of dominance.

Dustin Johnson does not as of yet seem to have the essential major-winning mettle.

John Huh is in the same boat as Mr. Olesen.

Justin Rose needs to ghost of Bobby Locke to possess his putting grip if he’s going to win another major, and his performance this year doesn’t scream “Hand me the green jacket!”

Louis Oosthuizen: How can you lose the Masters in a playoff on one occasion and miss the cut in your other four attempts?

I’m convinced that no matter how well or poorly Luke Donald is playing entering a major, he’s never going to win one of the darn things. His attire will eternally outshine his play down the stretch.

Marc Leishman played inspired golf last year. However, as he missed the cut in his other go-round in Georgia, it’s difficult to thing that he’s ready to make the quantum leap forward to Masters winner.

Perhaps Sergio Garcia has forgotten the comments below and is found the necessary fortitude to keep it together for 72 holes at Augusta.

“I’m not good enough … I don’t have the thing I need to have. In 13 years I’ve come to the conclusion that I need to play for second or third place.”

I’m skeptical that Garcia has found “the thing he needs to have” to win one major. I’m equally skeptical that the majority of the players on this list have found that truly rare substance in professional golf that both Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson possess: the ability to win multiple Masters Tournaments.