Certainties are hard to come by in sports, except when Tiger Woods holds the lead in a tournament going into the final round. This story nearly always has the same, familiar ending, Tiger raising a trophy into the air at Sunday’s end.

Tiger is an astounding 42-3 when leading or tied for the lead. If Tiger has any weakness -- the term “weakness” being used very loosely -- it is that, relative to his other amazing talents, he is not a great coming from behind. So with Tiger trailing by four shots going into the final round of the Dubai Dessert Classic, it looked like it should be third-round leader Ernie Els’ tournament to win, right?

Wrong.

Woods birdied five of his final seven holes to finish with a seven-under-par 65. Els had a chance to equal Woods’ 14-under mark with or birdie on the par-5 18th or even win with an eagle. However, as so often happens when competitors go up against Tiger, he failed. Els’ second shot on the par 5 found the water guarding the front of the green, ending his hopes of victory and giving Woods his second victory in as many starts.

This is not the first time Els has gone toe-to-toe with Tiger and come up a little short. Just two years ago, Tiger birdied the final two holes to force a playoff with Els and then went on to defeat him when the Big Easy’s second shot found the water.

Els is in the middle of a three-year plan to become the No. 1 player in the world. Forget about it, Ernie. It is not going to happen. Plain and simple, Tiger is the greatest golfer on the planet and nothing is going to change that.

Els, along with all the other top players in the world, are unfortunately playing in the same era as quite possibly the best player that has ever struck a golf ball. Els, Phil Mickelson and Vijay Singh all have three major titles, but imagine how many more they all might have if they did not have Mr. Woods to contend with. If not for Woods, we might be talking about one of those three as an all-time great. Instead, while all are likely to be inducted into the hall of fame, they will be but an afterthought compared to the astounding career that Tiger is putting together.

If you are looking for a rival for Tiger, forget about his peers. Mickelson has shown flashes of brilliance and working with super coach Butch Harmon can only help his cause. Yet like Ernie, Vijay, and so many others, when it comes to crunch time and Tiger is in contention, Phil crumbles under the pressure.

How can Phil possibly hope to rival Tiger when he cannot even defeat relatively unknown J.B. Holmes in playoff at the FBR Open? For Tiger to be truly challenged it is going to take someone similar to him, someone who can revolutionize the game the way Jack, Bobby Jones, and the other greats did. Unfortunately for those who want a rival for Tiger, those players do not come along very often. For now, despite what Kelly Tilghman said, Tiger Woods cannot be stopped.