Last week I was reading the sports section of the Daily and a sad thing occurred to me as I read two stories on the same page.

The first was about Tiger Woods, who had just had a from-behind win – his seventh on the trot.

The article went on to say how, at 32, he was only five majors behind the great Jack Nicklaus and, without actually saying so, it was clear that the author was convinced that Tiger would eventually be the greatest golfer in history.

In my opinion, that would be very difficult to disagree with but the article, and the one above it, took me back to a video I saw once about Tiger, his golf, his life and his dreams.

What made an impression on me was not so much the golf achievements but the man, himself, and something his late father said during the filming.

He commented that he honestly believed that Tiger was on this planet for something other than golf and that one day he would do something far more significant than his outstanding sporting achievements.

At the time I remember thinking, “Does he mean that he will one day be the president of the United States?”

At first I laughed and then I started thinking about it.

The guy never says anything wrong, he manages to be low key even though he is the complete opposite, and his life seems squeaky clean.

He is a humanitarian who does wonderful things for underprivileged kids and he just happens to be a golfer.

I concluded that this guy would make a great president or, more accurately, a great leader no matter what it entailed.

Now you may well ask what the other article on the page was.

It was the fall and fall of AFL great Wayne Carey, who has got himself into more hot water with a domestic violence charge which adds to his quiver of indecent dealings with the opposite sex.

Let me be clear, I am not picking on this guy because he is an AFL player because rugby league and other codes cannot throw stones, but I bring it up because I have always been a North Melbourne supporter and Carey – at the top of his game – could have been described as the Tiger Woods of AFL for a considerable period of time, on the field only of course.

But unlike Woods, he left a trail of incidents off the field, like many of his peers in football of all types.

So my question is: what current or recent sporting identity could fill Mr Rudd’s shoes to take the helm of this great nation in comparison to Tiger filling the presidents’ shoes or pumps, depending on the outcome of their election?

As far as Australian golfers, maybe Peter Lonard, but he is a bit casual.

He would probably reduce the tax on beer, so that would be good, but definetly not Allenby because he whines like the opposition frontbench.

Other than that, I can’t think of anybody.

Football is quite difficult.

Possibly Mal Meninga, but he knocked back the chance a few years ago and we need him more in the job he has got.

In rugby, maybe John Eales would make a good candidate, but a cricketer is the obvious choice as most describe the captaincy role as only second behind the prime minister.

Ponting’s nickname of “Punter” sort of scratches him for the job as there may be a couple of skeletons in his closet.

Steve Waugh was a great captain and is a humanitarian but, in my opinion, some of his unsporting behaviour on the field sort of puts him in the opposition leader role as well.

Shane Warne, god forbid, would probably have some supporters and I guess he has a lot to offer in the telecommunications field, but leave me out of his nomination.

I guess my pick of any sportsman would be Adam Gilchrist. No off-field poor behavior, played the game with a straight bat at all times, and a man of integrity, proving it time and time again no matter what the depth of peer pressure.

Seriously though, I can’t think of many possibilities in mainstream sport, particularly in any football code, which probably says it all.

Good on you Tiger.