Patrick Reed and Jimmy Walker don’t roll off the tongue as well as Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, but these days, the former could take the latter to the cart barn and teach them the meaning of the word respect.

Both acquitted themselves quite well in back-to-back wins in the island chain. On Maui, Reed tracked down Walker, quite obviously one of the more underrated players on the PGA Tour, and then Walker responded to that devastating loss with a record-setting performance on Oahu.

The real winners were the fans who witnessed Reed’s playoff victory at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions and Jimmy’s walk in the park at Waialae Country Club en route to winning the Sony Open by nine shots.

Upon discovering early Sunday morning that somehow Martin Kaymer had blown a 10-shot lead at Abu Dhabi with 13 to play, it led Walker to the sobering conclusion that winning is hard. Just ask the Green Bay Packers. They know.

Instead of putting it on cruise control as Walker might have done on the back nine of the Plantation Course at Kapalua, Walker’s instructions from his wife were simple — keep the pedal to the metal at Waialae. And he did. Right straight through with a birdie at the 72nd hole.

With last week’s second-place finish and this week’s first, Walker is at the top of the FedEx Cup leaderboard — much as he was for most of 2014 — and No. 13 in the latest world golf rankings. The brand-hot Texan has moved up eight spots in only two tournaments and jumped over the likes of defending FedEx Cup champ Billy Horschel (No. 14) and Reed, who comes in at No. 15.

These two Americans are leaving their marks on golf courses around the world. You could say Walker is born again after a neck injury he suffered on the practice range at Waialae in 2005 left his promising career in shambles. He didn’t hoist a trophy a single time in his first 187 tour events and now has won four of his past 32.

Reed relates well to that number four. He, too, has won four times on tour and last week became only the fifth golfer over the past quarter-century to win that many tour events before his 25th birthday. The other four are Woods, Mickelson, Rory McIlroy and Sergio Garcia. Pretty high company and perhaps one reason Reed declared himself one of the top five players in the world after beating an elite field at Doral last spring.

But as golf analyst Johnny Miller recently pointed out, it’s all about the majors. And for Reed and Walker to be mentioned in the same breath as Woods and Mickelson, they’ve got to post numbers in the most pressure-packed moments of the Masters, the U.S. Open, the British Open and the PGA Championship.

It starts with winning events as the ones Reed and Walker put away over the past two weekends. It’s a path that can lead to major success if the pressure can be neutralized. To quote former Star-Bulletin golf writer Bill Kwon: "If can, can. If no can, no can."

Walker is close. In 2014, he had three top-10s at the majors — tie for eighth at the Masters, tie for ninth at the U.S. Open and tie for seventh at the PGA.

Reed still has some lessons to learn on the world’s biggest stages. He made the cut in only two majors last year, with a tie for 35th at the U.S. Open his best effort.

With that said, the Augusta State University standout is familiar with Bobby Jones’ place near the border of Georgia and South Carolina. The confidence he gained by beating Walker after being five down with five to play can’t be overstated.

Members of the recently defeated Ryder Cup team, Reed and Walker are rising stars worthy of notice. We in Hawaii were treated to these kings of swing, who might not be the next Tiger and Phil, but right now, are playing better than both.