Greg Norman

Believe it or not, Greg Norman is leading the British Open. He's put up two rounds of even par 70, and is the only player in the field that is not over par. Obviously, there are still lots of players out on the course that have not completed their second round, but if this stands up and he is at or near the lead after today, he will be in position to become the oldest major winner ever. The previous oldest was not, as I thought it would be, Jack Nicklaus. Jack was a couple months past his 46th birthday when he won the Masters back in 1986. The oldest major winner was actually Julius Boros, who won the PGA championship in 1968 when he was 48 years old. Greg Norman is 53 years old, so winning here would shatter the old record by five years.

In his younger days, "The Shark" was always known as somewhat of a choker, and was also the victim of two of golf's most amazing major-winning shots (my boy Bob Tway holing out from the bunker in the 1986 PGA, and Larry Mize chipping in the 1987 Masters). In 1986, Norman held the lead in all four majors after the third round of play, but only managed to win the British Open. Norman is one of only two players to have competed in playoffs in all four major championships (the other is someone named Chris Wood, who also lost all of them). He doesn't even really play much anymore (he's only played in 3 Senior Tour events since he turned 50), but he just married Chris Evert, one of my first boyhood crushes (come on, admit it - compared to other female tennis players in her day, she was pretty hot). And she still looks pretty good.

Anyway, here's hoping that The Shark can hang on and make history. The Open has always been his favorite event, and the one in which he's had the greatest success (two wins). Perhaps with Ms. Evert in his corner, he won't choke it away this time. For someone with a fierce nickname like "The Shark," he's never been much of a killer.

UPDATE: John Daly is +14 for the day thru 14 holes. He took a nine on the par 4 13th hole. Ouch. I can't wait to see the highlights of that one on the golf channel tonight.

UPDATE: Daly finished with an 89 today. He shot a 49 on the back nine. Holy crap. Worst round of the championship by four shots. At least he finished his round.