Greg Norman leads British Open, co-favorite with Padraig Harrington

[Awsi Dooger]

This is like a return to the pre-Tiger era, wide open and unpredictable. Norman leads at age 53, 2 shots clear of K.J. Choi and defending champ Padraig Harrington. Norman would be the oldest major winner ever, by many years, but he also sets himself up for the "same old Greg Norman" stuff if he fails.

Awesome theater, particularly when the wind is relentless like today.

I thought Harrington would be the solo favorite in revised odds but he's level with Norman. Odds from Bodog.com:

Padraig Harrington- 3/1
Greg Norman- 3/1
K.J. Choi- 4/1
Sergio Garcia- 20/1
Anthony Kim- 20/1
Ross Fisher- 20/1
Simon Wakefield- 22/1
Ben Curtis- 25/1
Henrik Stenson- 28/1
Jim Furyk- 33/1
Robert Allenby- 33/1
Retief Goosen- 33/1
Alexander Noren- 33/1
Ian Poulter- 33/1
Davis Love III- 40/1
Steve Stricker- 50/1
Justin Leonard- 66/1
Rocco Mediate- 66/1
Graeme McDowell- 66/1
Camilo Villegas- 80/1

BTW, a resurgent Michelle Wie trails by only 1 after 3 rounds of the LPGA event, at 17 under par. That cracked me up, the PTI clowns and others who were content to write off a very talented golfer, who hits it a mile, at age 18. You wonder if they ever back up for a second and look at the big picture.

[fishwax]

1. He did a nice job recovering from 10

Watching Norman and Choi hack their way through the tenth today, I thought that Wakefield (who was already in at five over) might well wind up in the final pairing tomorrow. But Norman was impressive on the rest of the back nine.

Tomorrow looks to be a lot of fun. I'll be pulling a bit for (Sooner) Anthony Kim, and I generally like to see new winners, but it would certainly be exciting to see Norman pull it off as well. It'll be great entertainment to see how it all unfolds ...

[Awsi Dooger]

2. It's weird it never backs up as much as estimated

I thought the same thing. I'm pulling for Sergio and for a while I thought at +9 he could be within 4. But that's the trend for as long as I've watched, the leaders managing to survive awful weather and post a better score than logical.

The prime example was probably the '92 U.S. Open, when Colin Montgomerie finished early in miserable Pebble Beach conditions and Jack Nicklaus declared him the winner, even shaking Montgomerie's hand and congratulating him on his first major. Oops. Tom Kite didn't get the memo, chipping in on the famous short par 3 #7 and finishing several shots ahead of Monty. In fact, Monty wasn't even 2nd. Jeff Sluman bested him also.

I'd be very surprised if Norman pulled this off. The typical brake point for a senior tour player is two good rounds in a regular major. Three is extremely rare and I've never seen four. But it's more manageable when the score is over par, like here.

It might have been a bad break for Norman when Choi didn't birdie 17 or 18 and ended up in the next to last group. I think Norman would have been more comfortable, and had a better chance, playing with Choi again, someone who has never won a major, as opposed to head to head with last year's victor Harrington. The key to Faldo's win in the '96 Masters was a birdie on 18 on Saturday, lifting him into the final Sunday match with Norman.

[fishwax]

3. looks like Norman was the only player in the last five pairings to be under par on the back nine

even counting the double on 10. Harrington looked like he might reel along with everybody else, but steadied himself. I think Harrington is in great shape tomorrow, and with everyone other than him, Choi, and Wakefield five or more strokes back, he'll be in good shape as long as he can avoid collapse.

Interesting point about Norman and the final pairing. Incidentally, how do they determine the final pairing when two golfers are tied in second like Harrington and Choi? It certainly makes sense to put the defending champion in the final pairing, but is that just an organizer's choice or do they have a rubric?

I wonder how K.J. Choi's pairing with Wakefield will effect him? Obviously Wakefield is in uncharted territory--will he play as though oblivious or will he crumble early?

[Awsi Dooger]

7. The first player to post a score is given priority in the pairings

That's why Harrington is paired with Norman tomorrow. He posted 4 over before Choi did. Kind of a weird rule. It's designed to reward the player who did the best that day.

In '96, Faldo had to make the birdie putt to be solo second and therefore paired with Norman. At tied for second he would have been in the next to last group.

I expect Harrington to win. But in the back of my mind I remember he double bogeyed the 18th hole last year at Carnoustie, with two balls in the water.

[GOPisEvil]

4. Buh bye, Michelle.

There's this little rule about signing your scorecard INSIDE the scoring tent. How do you have THAT brain fart?

Oh well, you were playing well. Keep it up. Just stop playing men's events for now.

[Kingofalldems]

5. The caddy will be fired immediately

It's always the caddy's fault with her.

[GOPisEvil]

6. Actually, she blamed herself.

I was shocked. Maybe she's matured some.

[Awsi Dooger]

8. That's amazing

I turned the channel immediately after Wie bogeyed 18.

I read the summary and this happened on Friday, but tour officials weren't aware of the mistake until after Wie teed off Saturday, so they let her finish the round. Pretty ridiculous. Reminds me of Paul Azinger being DQed at Doral many years ago when a viewer called in something that he noticed from a replay of action the day before.

Obviously it's Michelle's mistake but I can understand it from one standpoint. She started on the back nine on Friday. That means she finished on #9. Those scoring tents are always smaller and lesser than the ones behind #18. They always seem minor league. And you can tell they are manned by lower tier employees, or at least less experienced employees, based on them chasing after Wie outside the tent, and then not informing tour officials until the following day, well after the final group had teed off.

Weird stuff does seem to follow her around. And now the PTI guys can rip her again, disregarding they have no clue regarding her caliber of play.

[hughee99]

9. Was Zingers' DQ when he kicked a rock away in a hazard

I was thinking about when the Walrus got DQ'd for kneeling on a towel to keep his pants clean and it was considered "improving his stance"

[Awsi Dooger]

10. Yeah, you got it

Azinger hit his tee shot on the edge of the water on 18. He was struggling for a solid stance and kicked some rocks backward. No one thought much of it but some guy taped it from the USA Network and called it in the next day.

The Stadler example is the all-timer. I think the technical term was "building a stance."

Michelle Wie has got to be sick. The LPGA playoff was at -18. Wie was -17 before the DQ. It very likely cost her a victory.

[ProfessorGAC]

12. Stupid Rule

And, yes i'm into the rules of the game. (I passed the USGA Certified Rules Official test 7 years ago. Almost time to recert.)

But, the rules of the game are intended to assure equity to all players who, obviously, aren't all on the same part of the playing field at the same time. Where one signs a scorecard is a needless technicality apropos of nothing. If the scorecard got signed, and it was an accurate card, that should have been enough.

The Professor

[Awsi Dooger]

11. Kim Welch wins on the Duramed Futures Tour

Unrelated to the British Open but I thought I'd throw that out there. I watched Big Break Kaanapali on The Golf Channel and Kim was revealed as the winner two weeks ago. She was my pick from the opening week, a bomber with a great swing.

Kim is trying to earn an LPGA card and her first career win Sunday, on the LPGA version of the Nationwide Tour, moves her within striking distance, 7th place on the Duramed money list. Top 5 earn LPGA cards, otherwise it's a trip to diabolical Q School:

http://www.duramedfuturestour.com/2008/Syracuse.asp