On the Green

Of course, it's getting ridiculous that Michelle Wie still is getting exemptions to play in men's tournaments. She is at it again, this week at the Legends Reno-Tahoe Open. The timing is awful, what with Wie just starting to bring her game into shape. She just needs to keep playing in regular women's pro events and not in circuses.

No less an authority than GolfWorld editor Ron Sirak, who has followed her career as closely as anyone and has been supportive of Wie, said she should go the standard route, going steadily through the Duramed Futures Tour and building a solid resume.

The fact that she screwed up a chance to win two weeks ago by forgetting to sign her scorecard is proof that she needs more seasoning and less scrutiny. And she needs to lose the condescending streak that had her respond to a legitimate opinion from PGA Tour player Jay Williamson, questioning her exemption to Reno, by saying she had never even heard of Williamson. Silence is the most eloquent answer sometimes.

But having said all of that, a lot more of us will be paying attention to the Legends Reno-Tahoe Open now that Wie will be in it. The ending of each round will be in prime time on the Golf Channel. Let's face it, we all love a sideshow.

GM Garth Snow and Islanders captain Bill Guerin will be in a golf outing Saturday for the benefit of Camp Sunrise, which helps children who are undergoing treatment for cancer. The event will be at Tam O'Shanter Club in Brookville. More details will be forthcoming (such as contact person, time, fee) from teh Isles.

No shock that Greg Norman didn't contend at the Senior British Open at Royal Troon last weekend. He had left a lot of his heart and game and strength at Royal Birkdale at the non-senior British Open the week before.

But it would not be a surprise to see him among the leaders in the U.S. Senior Open this week. The way he looked in battling Padraig Harrington, he sure showed that, recharged, he ought to be a match for anybody in the 50-and-over set.

Best yet, the winner of the U.S. Senior Open gets an automatic berth in the next year's U.S. Open. So a win for the Shark this week will get him into the field at Bethpage in 2009, which would be quite cool.

Here's to Bruce Vaughan, who beat John Cook in a playoff to win the Senior British Open. Better late than never. Vaughan never had won a tournament on the PGA Tour or the Champions Tour before, yet is a worthy champion.

He paid his dues in golf. He's also a good fellow, which I can say with some authority, having been at dinner with Vaughan, a handful of other Champions Tour pros and local business leaders during the Commerce Bank Championship.

The very best part of his win, though, was that it was a huge lift to his spirits. Only seven weeks earlier, Vaughan's mother died in a car accident, after having just returned home from watching her son play in a tournament in Iowa.

Here's hoping we see him on Long Island again next year. That is, here's hoping there's a tournament for him to enter.

Good morning! What an amazing looking day at Royal Birkdale. With a few different players atop the leaderboard, this promises to be an interesting afternoon. Hang in for continuous updates.

[UPDATE 10:25] -- My favorite story of the tournament is without a doubt Chris Wood, the 20-year-old amateur who finds himself three back of the lead. Imagine that. You make the cut and then all of a sudden your in the thick of it all, primed to make a run in the biggest tournament of them all. Of providing passes to his family members, Wood had this to say:

“My mother and aunt are here as well but my sister Abi is travelling in Europe. She sent me a text yesterday asking ‘Are you in that Open thing yet?”’

[UPDATE 10:43] -- Mike Tirico just had a great stat. And no, its not because someone had to do a lot of research. Padraig Harrington has six straight pars. Six. That is what these final rounds are all about -- consistent play, hole after hole and not making mistakes. More often than not, bogey is going to be a good score. Meanwhile, Chris Wood just missed a birdie putt that would have brought him within two of the lead. Alas, it is also about taking advantage of your opportunities.

[UPDATE 11:00] -- Greg Norman is two back of the lead, and true to my thought that he is the world's third most recognizable golfer, he is certainly getting the Tiger treatment from the galleries at Royal Birkdale today.

[UPDATE 11:13] -- Let's play Who's Score is That? -- 73, 69, 83, 71 -- now if you said David Duval you'd be correct! Duval, who won the Open Championship in 2001, would be right in the mix if it wasn't for the third-day disaster.

[UPDATE 11:28] -- Just realized that Ian Poulter has perhaps the coolest pants I have ever seen. He is two shots back of the lead. Coincidence? I think not.

[UPDATE 11:45] -- Greg Norman has taken the lead at 6-over. Fire up the Shark-related headlines just in case he wins.

[UPDATE 12:10] -- Can you imagine that the winner of this tournament may win it at 10-over? Both Harrington and Poulter are already at 7-over.

[UPDATE 12:21] -- Harrington sank such a nice putt to give himself the outright lead. That is one way to break the streak of pars.

[UPDATE 12:40] -- What a gutsy performance from Poulter. For all of the flak he's taken over the comments he made comparing himself to Tiger, and the wrist injury, he has certainly made an impact today, shooting 1-under 69 of the final round of this tournament and putting himself in prime position to win. Must feel great.

[UPDATE 12:51] -- Harrington's birdie gave him a two-shot lead. He almost eagled on No. 15, and really put everyone behind him. How does the defending champion follow up his birdie? Pounds a drive down the right side of the 16th fairway.

[UPDATE 1:13] -- I played with some old guys who simply said "golf shot" when a player hit a terrific shot. Not quite sure what they might make of Harrington's shot on 17, but you'll see it in the highlights tonight. Eagle coming up.

[UPDATE 1:36] -- Padraig Harrington couldn't close it pretty, but he wins his second consecutive Claret Jug, and ESPN on ABC has a great shot of him and his family. Greg Norman will card a 77.

People are surprised Greg Norman is in contention at the British Open? What's the big deal? I predicted that Norman would win it.

Of course, that was in 1986.

Only kidding. I was covering Brookhaven Town government and politics, schools and other news back then.

Anyway, this Norman performance is fascinating. A win at Royal Birkdale this week would make him, at 53, the oldest player ever to have won a major.

It puts you in mind of the very short list of other athletes who have excelleed after 50 (not counting the Senior or Champions Tour, which allows ONLY golfers 50 and older).

George Blanda did not quite make it to a game at 50. He was 48 when he played in an AFC Championship game but retired before the following season.

Gordie Howe turned 52 toward the end of a full season with the Hartford Whalers. Howe played 80 National Hockey League games for the Whalers in 1979-80.

Satchel Paige was 59 when he pitched three scoreless innings for the Kansas City A's in 1965.

Who's your favorite 50-and-over athlete?

--Mark Herrmann

BY LAURA ALBANESE

K.J. Choi leads the pack going into the final two days of the open. But the real story, as it has been all weekend, likely goes to the improbable resurgence of Greg Norman. The 53-year-old wonder is in shooting distance of becoming the oldest man ever to win the British Open and goes into today even at 70. Harsh conditions at the Royal Birkdale has made it near impossible for most of golf’s big names to pull away. Choi is the only one to sneak in under par at 1-under. Again, conditions are windy and difficult. Camillo Villegas and Robert Allenby round out the top golfers at 1 and 2-over, respectively. Big names like Sergio Garcia (71-73) and Phil Mickelson (79-78-) never recovered from the tough first round. The leaderboard, for your perusal.

And hey! People are finally laying off the oh-so-noticeable absence of You Know Who.

Live blogging fun below the cut...

It was a cold, windswept, howler at Royal Birkdale Thursday--a far cry from the sun drenched, balmy New York State Open at Bethpage Black.

In any case, the conditions were all the buzz at the first round of the British Open. There was talk, naturally, about where that ranked among the all-time weather fiascos over there. I can tell first hand that I can't imagine anything being much worse than the third round of the 2002 British at Muirfield.

That was something (fittingly) right out of Shakespeare's "The Tempest.": I am proud to say that Don Markus of the Baltimore Sun and I were intrepid enough to go out there on the course, where the sane reporters did not dare to tread. It took the rest of the day to dry out.

How tough was it? You remember. That's when Tiger Woods shot 81, and lost his chance for the Grand Slam.

I agree with my esteemed colleagues in the golf writers community, Mark Cannizzaro and John Hawkins, who do the very informative and entertaining "19th Hole" on the Golf Channel. This week, from Royal Birkdale, they disagreed with their channel's philosophy, insisting that American viewers know this major as the British Open, not the Open Championship.

The Golf Channel insists on calling it the latter. Perhaps the people there want to ingratiate themselves with the European golf community. Maybe they just want to sound important. Maybe they want it to sound "In" to the golf cognoscenti. I say nonsense to all of it.

Americans know there are other Opens, notably the U.S. Open, which is not ashamed of its first name. Come on, if a Golf Channel staffer sees a "civilian" in a supermarket in late June, does he or she say, "I'm going to the Open Championship?" No way. To the average person, it's the British Open. Always has been and always will be. Harrumph.

BY MARC JIMENEZ

Looks like Rocco Mediate’s epic battle with Tiger Woods at the U.S. Open was no fluke. The likeable 45-year-old golfer is tied on top of the leaderboard with Robert Allenby and Graeme McDowell after shooting a 1-under 69 in Day 1 at the British Open. Three players shot a 70, including 53-year-old newlywed Greg Norman. Also in the mix are Jim Furyk (71), Retief Goosen (71), Sergio Garcia (72) and Anthony Kim (72).

Other than Tiger not playing in this tournament, a topic of discussion Thursday was the weather. The wet, windy and cold conditions made life difficult for a few big-name golfers. You never want to say someone is done after the first round, but you can pretty much put a fork in Phil Mickelson (79), Vijay Singh (80), Ernie Els (80) and John Daly (80).

Here is a list of the leaderboard. Scroll down for updates.

Update at 7:45 am– Coming in it was interesting to see if Norman could keep pace with his excellent shooting – well he has! The Shark sunk a long putt on the 18 for par, finishing at even-par. He also had a long putt for bogey on 17. So at the halfway point, who would have thought, but Norman has shot a par of 70s. Not far behind is Furyk, who shot a 71 to equal his total on Thursday. Furyk said he put himself in a position to give himself a chance to win.

Update at 8:00 – So far, the best round has been Camilo Villegas, who shot an amazing 5-under 65, and sits behind Norman for second place at 1-over. Villegas shot 11 strokes better on Friday than he did on Thursday. Mediate and McDowell both came in with a tie for first place and after each player shot a 73, it looks like they will be joined once again at 2-over.

Update at 8:15 – Allenby slip just a bit in Day 2 and shot a 73. He is at 2-over, along with McDowell, Furyk and Mediate. Adam Scott missed a 5-foot par on 18 to finish +4. Jean Van de Velde and Nick Dougherty each made up some ground by shooting a 71. Van de Velde is +4 and Dougherty is +6. By the way, the rain and wind has picked up.

Update at 8:30 – Garcia, whose first shot on 14 landed near a bunker, made an incredible second shot by putting it two feet from the hole. Not bad.

Update at 8:45 – OK, now seems a good time to talk about some of Norman’s shots. He birdied hole 7 and 8. He had a bogey on 17 and saved par on 18 after knocking down a long putt. Good stuff.

Update at 9:00 – Defending champion Padraig Harrington just got underway here. He sunk his third shot on the 2nd hole -- from the bunker no less -- to be at +3. Justin Leonard, who is decked out in all black and is wearing a winter hat over his cap, just sunk a long putt for birdie on the 3rd hole.

By DARREN SANDS

Live British Open leaderboard: Round 1 -- Scroll down for blog updates

There wasn't any mistaking the irony of the image of Tiger Woods, the biggest story before the 137th Open Championship, quite possibly in his pajamas on Thursday morning sharing a bowl of Cheerios and playing with his daughter, Sam.

But the fact that there is Tiger fanfare without the man so much as taking a few practice swings on the first tee, is certainly of his own doing; he has made no secret that he cares mostly about the major championships, about catching Jack Nicklaus. And so the questions about Tiger's absence swirled like the wind at Royal Birkdale that has taken the likes of Ernie Els and American Jerry Kelly out of contention in the early going.

Yesterday's most interesting comments to the media throng at Royal Birkdale related to Tiger came from friend and 1998 British Open Champion, Mark O'Meara:

"I'm not a huge historian of the game, but 11 years ago if we sat in this room and said hey, there's going to be this golfer that's going to come along and 11 years from now, he's going to either be the most famous athlete in the world or one of the most famous, we'd all look at each other and say 'you're nuts. A golfer being that famous. No way.' And sure enough, here we go.

While there was much ado about who wasn't there, there was also an appropriate amount of attention given to what wasn't said. Phil Mickelson deflected a few Tiger-related questions and, when asked if he could comment particularly on Woods, said "Oh, I'm sure I could." Nice.

--

Check out the leaderboard above for the latest scores at the 137th Open Championship at Royal Birkdale. Leaders are Rocco Mediate, Graeme McDowell and Robert Allenby at -1.

[UPDATE 1:59] -- With possible last-round implications, there have been a few eagles on No. 17. But more interesting than that, are Rocco Mediate's comments on his opening round 69: "I have no explanation for that whatsoever. No idea why that happened." Nice. Very articulate.

[UPDATE 1:30] -- American Anthony Kim is making a case for his spot on the Ryder Cup team. He's +2 through 16 in the first round today. It'll be interesting to see if he can come out and give a repeat performance tomorrow. He'd be in perfect position to make a run, but the key word in major tournaments is consistency.

[UPDATE 1:10] -- A birdie on No. 17 by Greg Norman moves the Shark to even par. Didn't know he was 53. Speaking of old guys, Tom Watson shot a 74 out there today. Now, is it just me, or does Tom Watson seem to always shoot a good score in the first round of these major championships? Is it just me or is it only matter of time before he's in one of the final groups in a major and it's the biggest story of the year?

[UPDATE 12:59] -- Graeme McDowell just finished birdie-birdie to hole out with a 1-under 69. That's some round in those weather conditions. He's right there with Rocco Mediate, who interestingly said that if he won at Royal Birkdale, it wouldn't come close to his experience at the U.S. Open. I wonder if he'll share that same sentiment when he gets his tournament check should he win.

[UPDATE 12:35] -- Kenny Perry, who was widely criticized for skipping the The Open Championship to play in the U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee, is currently -2 through 17 holes. His wins in recent weeks catapulted him to fourth in the Ryder Cup Standings, and he has made it clear that his goal is to play in the Ryder Cup. Good for him. I'd say he's certainly in better shape than Rich Beem, who withdrew from the tournament after shooting 12-over par on the front nine. Ouch!

[UPDATE 12:10] -- Jean Van de Velde. Just writing it gives me the chills. His is a name that is now synonymous with the The Open Championship, for all the wrong reasons; a sort of cautionary tale about the travails of overreaching in a major championship. If you don't know what I'm talking about, check this out. All I will say is that he needed a double bogey to win this tournament in 1999. With that said, he certainly put himself in a nice position today, shooting three-over 73, and just missing a birdie putt that would have put him three back of the leader.

[UPDATE 11:55] -- If Phil Mickelson is, at nine-over par (79), still in contention, what does that make 2001 Champion David Duval? He shot a three-over 73 and is currently tied with fellow American Heath Slocum and Colin Montgomerie. Can Duval put a a few nice rounds together and hang around until Sunday?

[UPDATE 11:36] -- Sergio Garcia's approach on No. 7 landed within 15 feet of the hole. Feeling pretty confident about his chances. He's 2-over.

[UPDATE 11:25] -- Rocco Mediate, whose stand-up performance to Tiger Woods endeared him to a captive nation of observers at the U.S. Open, has quietly played to one over par through 14 holes. He birdied holes No. 8 and 13, bogeyed Nos. 1, 3 and 5. Bogeys are not bad scores in miserable conditions, but Rocco settled down nicely.

[UPDATE 11:05] -- From the Neil Best Files: I understand that Ernie Johnson is TNT's marquee voice, but I can't help but to think how much better this broadcast would be if Charles Barkley and New York's own Kenny Smith were sitting next to him in the tower freezing their butts off, cracking jokes about Adam Scott tripping out of a fairway bunker or something. The drab, droning cadence of his partners in this broadcast cast Johnson's larger-than-life presence on, say, the Inside the NBA show, into a rather small and inconsequential role. Not sure that this is what TNT was going for.

[UPDATE 10:43] -- Really wish I had the poll question for this one. Take Tiger and Phil out of the equation and who is the world's most recognizable golfer? E-mail me your responses and I'll do my best to post some of them. I'm going to go right on ahead and say its Greg Norman. He was, for all intents and purposes, Tiger before Tiger; a handsome player who won tournaments, was ranked No. 1 in the world, and whose personality made him a fan favorite on tour. He is also one of the tour's major retail successes -- what golfer do you know that doesn't own a piece of the Greg Norman Collection with the old shark logo? All of that was to say that Norman is even par through 10 holes, behind Adam Scott and Peter Hanson, which are both at 1-under. Norman just found the fairway on No. 11. Can he sustain his even play?

[UPDATE 10:20] -- Imagine Gary Player, one of the game's greatest players, says that your swing is reminiscent of one of the best swings of any player on tour. You win the Masters Tournament. Suddenly you are thrust into the spotlight, your swing the stuff of YouTube legend, the centerpiece of an issue of Golf Digest. That was reality for Trevor Immelman, who admitted he wasn't ready for the attention that winning a major championship affords. After struggling at the U.S. Open, Immelman says he feels good at Royal Birkdale and birdied the par-3 fourth, but returned to 1-over par after a bogey on No. 5.

[UPDATE 9:40] -- Sergio Garcia, who I think will win this tournament, just teed off at Royal Birkdale. Robert Karlsson is one under par through five. Mickelson is finishing up on No. 18 -- already nine-over.