British Open Recap

Well, Greg Norman did it again. I was hoping he could hang on, but he got off to a bad start (three straight bogeys) and never recovered. In fact the result was eerily similar to his collapse in the 1996 Masters. Lets compare:

* Led in both 1996 and 2008 going into the final round. In 1996, by 6 and in 2008 by 2.
* Shot 78 in the final round in 1996. Shot 77 in the final round in 2008.
* In 1996, he was beaten by his playing partner Nick Faldo, and was outscored by 11 strokes. In 2008, he was beaten by his playing partner Padraig Harrington and was outscored by 8 strokes. Actually, when you are outscored like that, "beaten" doesn't really cover it. He was crushed.
* Lost in 1996 by five strokes. Lost in 2008 by six strokes.
* In both years, lost to a former winner of the tournament from the British Isles.

Oh well, so much for all the history-making events that were going to unfold on Sunday. It's too bad. I was rooting for Norman. But he looked like a totally different player on Sunday. He looked every bit like someone who was 1-for-8 with the lead entering the final round of a major. Now he's 1-for-9. Suffice to say, he's not a good frontrunner.

Just as a point of reference. Tiger Woods is 14-for-14 with at least a share of the lead entering the final round of a major. Unreal.

Incidentally, I am not trying to take away anything from Padraig Harrington, who played about as well as anyone could on the back nine yesterday. But Norman still handed him the title on a silver platter with his poor start and his inability to recover from it.

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.