Padraig Harrington makes it look easy the second time around

Monday, July 21, 2008 3:31 pm (Eastern)

By Sal Johnson

British Open tournament recap

So what's all of this coming to, last month a person with a broken leg wins the U.S. Open, now a person wins the British Open with a bad wrist, or so he says. Guess the old saying, beware of the injured and sick golfer has some merit to it.

Photo: © Adrian Dennis/AFP/Getty Images Padraig Harrington kisses the Claret Jug after winning it for a second straight year.

Before we talk about Padraig Harrington's great British Open win we should just gloss over Greg Norman's lost. I say gloss over because I know that many other more talented writers are having a feed day writing about Norman's lose. Like one scribe told me on Sunday morning, "we win either way on Norman, it will be a great story win or loss."

Honestly I and many others don't think it's that great of a story because in my estimation, Norman is one of the greatest golfers of our time that just couldn't get the job done. For the eight time in his career he led going into the final round and failed. In a way he is a lot like Barry Bonds, without the steroids of course, Bonds was such a great figure that did so much but at the end of the day he just couldn't win the big game and bring a World Series crown home to San Francisco. Norman is the same way, he should of won may majors and even thought he won twice, he just never accomplished what he could of done.

On the other side, Padraig Harrington was for the longest time a great player that couldn't do the deed either. After winning the Spanish Open in his first year on tour in 1996, he was runner-up in nine times before he won again in 2000. The same on the PGA Tour, Harrington was runner-up in the 2003, '04 Players and then the 2004 Barclays before breaking through at the 2005 Honda Classic. But the important thing for Harrington is that he has broken through and now he has won his second British Open championship and as he said afterwards, "I am looking to win many other majors."

Photo: © Peter Muhly/AFP/Getty Images Padraig Harrington loves taking care of the Claret Jug and will be doing it for a second year.

The same could of been said of Norman when he won the 1986 British Open and then again the 1993 British, but it never happened. What I find really funny about Harrington's two wins, last year he was questionable going into Carnoustie because of a sore neck but once the bell on Thursday rang it never seemed to bother him. The same this week, going into this week we heard how bad his wrist was, to the point that he only hit two shots on Wednesday and called it a day. Then, once the bell rang on Thursday we never heard a peep out of him over the wrist.

You talk with some Irish scribes and they will tell you that these "injuries" are a way for Harrington to take some pressure off of himself before a big event. Harrington has a lot of ways' to relieve pressure, like the wrist that keeps his mind off the pressure of golf, like playing the final round on a cold blustery day in short sleeves and even though he was cold he didn't want to put on a sweater because he was afraid of changing his swing.

Yes on top of all of these weird traits of Harrington he is also superstitious. Going into this week Harrington tried to do everything just like he did last year, even playing in a club pro event at the European Club to get ready for this. It's really funny, in a talk with the owner of the European Club Pat Ruddy, he said that he would have to rebook the club for next year's Irish PGA Championship so that he could help Harrington get ready for Turnberry. Harrington's superstitions are so great that he even packed the same socks that he won on the final day at Carnoustie and I bet you he wore them on Sunday.

As an Open champion nobody treats the privilege better than Harrington. For the last year the Claret Jug has been carried around the world with him, showing it off to every one from Ireland to Dubai to Hong Kong and even China. As he said on Monday morning after another wild night of partying (even though he doesn't drink) at the IMG house in Southport, the hardest thing for him to do was to give up the Jug after a year of having it. In a way it gave him some more resolve to play well and make sure that it gets returned to spot on his breakfast table in his home just outside of Dublin. Matter of fact he has told everyone to look at the jug, it is more shinny because of the time he has taken wiping it down and keeping it clean.

So for the jug it's another year of heavy traveling with Harrington, who says that the majors are the most important thing for him and would love to win a couple more. He even said that after taking this week off and enjoying the victory, he is going to work real hard to win the PGA Championship in two weeks when it goes to Oakland Hills.

Photo: © Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images Family picture of the Harrington's with the Claret Jug

I will really be rooting for Paddy to win the PGA, because I would like to see how he will travel around the world with not only the Claret Jug, but the Wanamaker Trophy which is about three times larger than the Claret Jug. That would be fun to watch.

Looking at the tournament, Harrington earned it with a spectacular display on the back nine. On yet another day of strong winds whipping through Royal Birkdale, a day where it looked like grinding it out would be the path towards the British Open title, Harrington unleashed a stunning 4-under 32 on the back nine for a 1-under 69 and a 3-over total of 283.

That was good for a four-stroke victory over England’s Ian Poulter, who shot a 69 of his own. Greg Norman, bidding to become the oldest major champion by five years at 53, couldn’t get it going in the final round as he bogeyed the first three holes and ended up with a 77 for a share of third place with Henrik Stenson (71).

Harrington had a tough stretch with bogeys on the 7th, 8th, and 9th, but he only fell one behind. Par-saving 4-footers at 10 and 11 earned him a tie for first, and he grabbed the tournament by the throat with a birdie on the par-four 13th. That happened just as Poulter was settling for a three-putt par at the 17th, and left Harrington with a one-stroke lead. Harrington polished it off, taking advantage of the only two par fives on the course by playing them 3-under. He two-putted for a birdie after an excellent 3-wood to the 15th and hit an even better 5-wood to four feet on the 17th to convert a clinching eagle.

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Keys to victory for Harrington

No two ways about it Paddy won the old fashion way, grinding out par after par. He was very consistent especially around the greens as he was T7th with just 116 putts and T10th in scrambling getting it up and down 55.88% times. These two combinations made for a very good tournament for Harrington.

Padraig Harrington stats for the day & week
Category	Sunday	Week (rank)
Fairways hit:	8 of 14	29 of 56 (T35th)
Driving average:	292.0	292.1 (T45th)
Greens hit:	10 of 18	38 of 72 (T30th)
Putts:	29	116 (T7th)
0-putt greens:	0	2
1-putt greens:	7	27
2-putt greens:	11	40
3-putt greens:	0	2
Play on par 3s:	+1	+3
Play on par 4s:	+1	+7
Play on par 5s:	-3	-7
Eagles:	1	2
Birdies:	2	11 (T2nd)
Scrambling:	19 of 34 (55.88%)	(T10th)

Here are some other keys for his victory:

• Harrington played his last six holes in four under par as on Friday, Saturday and Sunday he played the 15th, 17th and 18 holes in nine under par. His 35.75 scoring average was the best of anyone in the field
• Played the par 5s in 7 under, best of anyone in the field.
• Made 11 birdies, only one other person made more this week.

What This Win means for Harrington

• Becomes the 16th player since 1950 to win major championships in back-to-back years, joining Ben Hogan (1950-51), Sam Snead (1951-52), Peter Thomson (1954-55-56), Cary Middlecoff (1955-56), Arnold Palmer (1960-61-62), Gary Player (1961-62), Jack Nicklaus (1962-63, 1965-66-67, 1970-71-72-73), Tony Jacklin (1969-70), Lee Trevino (1971-72), Seve Ballesteros (1979-80, 1983-84), Tom Watson (1980-81-82-83), Curtis Strange (1988-89), Nick Faldo (1989-90), Tiger Woods (1999-2000-01-02, 2005-06-07-08) and Phil Mickelson (2004-05-06).
• Becomes the sixth player to win consecutive British Open’s since World War II (and the 16th overall), joining Tiger Woods (2005-06), Tom Watson (1982-83), Lee Trevino (1971-72), Arnold Palmer (1961-62) and Peter Thomson (1954-56). With the exception of Woods (who had his wins at St. Andrews and Hoylake), all had Royal Birkdale as one of the venues.
• Becomes the 16th player to defend a British Open title in the events 137th year of play, the events 26th multiple winner and the first European to successfully defend the British since James Braid did it 102 years ago in 1906
• Harrington’s winning score of 3 over becomes the highest score in a major in this millennium and the highest since Paul Lawrie’s 6 over total at Carnoustie in 1999.
• Going back 48 years to 1960, it’s the sixth highest to par total in a major followed by Julius Boros 9 over par total in 1963, Hale Irwin’s 7 over par total in 1974 U.S. Open, Paul Lawrie’s 6 over par total in 1999 British Open, Angel Cabrera’s 5 over par total in 2007 U.S. Open and Geoff Ogilvy’s 5 over par total in 2006 U.S. Open. Lou Graham was also 3 over par in the 1974 U.S. Open
• With his win this week at the age of 36, Harrington now can play on the PGA Tour through 2013 and the European Tour through 2018, just three years short of being a senior. Talking about the European Tour, Harrington becomes the ninth different European Tour member to win a major as the nine have totaled 34 majors since 1979.

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Why Greg Norman lost

Had a terrible driving week, hit only 21 of 56 fairways (37.5%) which he was only better than four other players (was T76th). The real downfall came on the weekend when he 8 of 28 fairways.

Greg Norman stats for the day & week
Category	Sunday	Week (rank)
Fairways hit:	5 of 14	21 of 56 (T76th)
Driving average:	308.5	293.8 (37th)
Greens hit:	5 of 18	37 of 72 (T37th)
Putts:	28	114 (5th)
0-putt greens:	0	0
1-putt greens:	8	30
2-putt greens:	10	42
3-putt greens:	0	0
Play on par 3s:	+1	-1
Play on par 4s:	+7	+12
Play on par 5s:	-1	-2
Eagles:	0	0
Birdies:	1	9 (T15th)
Scrambling:	19 of 35 (54.29%)	(T21st)

Here are some other reasons for the loss:
• For the week he hit 37 of 72 greens but on Sunday only hit 5 of 18.
The thing that kept him in the championship was putting, he was 5th in both putting average and number of putts taken 114, but his shining moment had to be that he was one of only six players without a three putt.
• Greg Norman has now finished inside the top 10 in a major championship 30 times in his career. His T3rd finish on Sunday, which earns him a trip back to Augusta for the 2009 Masters, was his first top-10 since a sixth-place finish at the 1999 British Open and his best outing in a major since finishing third at the 1999 Masters.
• He has some of the most awesome three round factoid’s in a major championship. First of all in 1986 he had the distinction of having the third round lead in all four majors for the year. Out of the four he was only able to win one, the British Open.
• One last third round factoid, Norman has either led, had a share of the lead or been within five of the lead, 24 times in major championships. In those 24 times he has a final round scoring average of 73.3. Seven of those majors he shot a final round score of 75 or over, just my chance four of those were when he had the lead or a share of the 3rd round lead.
• He now goes down with Julius Boros as the only over 50 players to own a third round lead in a major. Julius led the 1973 U.S. Open before finishing T7th.



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It was a great week of TV for both TNT and ABC Sports

Monday, July 21, 2008 6:44 am (Eastern)

By Sal Johnson

What was good with them? What was bad.

I have been coming to the British Open since 1975 and have watched a lot of television of the BBC and ABC Sports at this event. Since my demise from ABC in 2003, I have watched nothing but BBC when I come over for the British and I can say that it's a mixed bag. The American press mangles their coverage, which in some cases they should. Their pictures are inferior to those of American networks and even their competition Sky Sports. Still people tend to forget that the good old Beeb as they are called over here is monetarily at a big disadvantage to American networks, the big reasons for some of their problems.

Still that doesn't mean the BBC is terrible, what critics doen't tell you is that the BBC has been at the forefront of a lot of technology that we see in the states right now.. The Beeb was the first to use the LSM machine that enabled golf producers to show tape shots while it was being cut, which American networks stole from Beeb and use them to better format golf. The Beeb was also ahead of the scale on computer generated graphics and use of camera's like putting them on Segaway scooters and walking with the pro's. But their finest points is having good voices like Peter Alliss, Ken Brown and Hazel Irvin, they are some of the best presenters in golf and it's too bad that American viewers can't hear them. It's funny how many people like the BBC, some like Frank Hannigan go out of their way to pay for a internet service that gives BBC golf broadcasts to viewers in America. Now for average British golf viewers they don't mind the Beeb but I have to wonder how much of that is because of Peter Alliss who is very popular over here.

Photo: © Courtesy TNT Ian Baker-Finch and Ernie Johnson had the perfect chemistry this week on the TNT shows

For my trip this year, I had a machine called a Slingebox, which hooks up to your TV box at home with your computer by sending out your TV signal over the internet anywhere in the world that your at. It's really great and I have loved it since my wife Debi gave it to me for Christmas. So for the first time since '03 I was able to watch the TNT/ABC British Open telecast live.

I have to say that I really enjoyed both network telecasts, and watching the BBC and ABC/TNT side by side I could tell the big difference between the two. Over the years ABC has weaned itself of BBC pictures and it makes the telecast so much better. When I mean they have weaned themselves of BBC pictures it doesn't mean they don't use BBC cameras and feeds, they do, but they have gotten so much better in the editorial decisions, the use of the pictures and the way to get the best from the Beeb and not show the weaknesses of the BBC. To give you an example and I see it all the time, the Beeb is slow in getting to shots, but with a great voice of Peter Alliss a 45 wide shot is filled with his words and they get away with it. But on ABC/TNT you get a faster pace show with a lot more shots and more replays.

First we should look at the TNT telecast, which is produced by ABC/ESPN people. Now it doesn't mean that they just take all the decisions from Chris Ohlmeyer, the ABC producer. TNT has a staff of folks that help Chris make decisions, but they produce their own pieces and bring over a lot of their own announcers. In the past their major flaw was having Bobby Clampett on the shows. For years he would mangle telecasts, Clampett could be the worst announcer in the history of golf TV, but TNT kept putting him up there. It has been rumored that a decade ago Clampett was close to the person that made all of the decisions at TNT and at the time was able to wraggle a ten year contract out of them, which strapped management from making a change. But fortunately they either bought Clampett out or found some way around things and replaced him with Ian Baker-Finch.

The difference of having Baker-Finch was night and day, I think that he had his best performance of his decade long television career this week. Maybe it was because he was returning to the British Open, something that is close to Ian's heart, maybe it was returning to Birkdale no matter he was great to listen to and worked great with Ernie Johnson, who seemed a lot better with Ian.

Now the bad news on all of this, even though it hasn't been confirmed and nobody will talk, next year will be the last for TNT at the British Open. ESPN will not only take over the Thursday and Friday coverage, but they will replace the ABC Saturday and Sunday at St. Andrews.. In another move that was announced last month, Turner has also lost the Presidents Cup to Golf Channel, which for the viewer will be a downgrade. Now they still will do the PGA Championship and the Grand Slam, but with the momentum of ESPN wanting to get the early round coverage of all four majors and the Ryder Cup going to ESPN, TNT could also lose the PGA once that contract is up in a couple of years.

The shame of all this is that TNT should still be televising golf, even if it's a deal with the LPGA, which doesn't look possible. Another shame, the folks at TNT are great to work for and like to spend a dollar or two, why the PGA Tour didn't utilize them more instead of going 100% with Golf Channel is way past my thinking. One thing that I would suggest, the European Tour is not happy at the coverage of their telecasts in which Golf Channel in a cost move to save $5 million dollars a year is making a mockery of those telecasts, the European Tour should try to lure someone like TNT to do those telecasts and we could again get first class treatment of the European Tour. In talking with George O'Grady, who runs the European Tour, he is now aware of the terrible Golf Channel shows and has some meeting planned with Golf Channel executives so hopefully they will fix the problem or hopefully find someone else to do them, TNT would be a great home.

Photo: © Courtesy ABC Sports The main announce team of Paul Azinger, Tom Watson and Mike Tirico did a great job this week.

So with that development, golf on TNT with Ian Baker-Finch will be missed. In a way it's just like not having ABC on the PGA Tour contract. Listening to Mike Tirico, Paul Azinger, Judy Rankin, Terry Gannon, Tom Rinaldi and Andy North this week is a shame that we only get them once a year, they are great and give us a great change of pace over having to listen to Nick Faldo all the time, who frankly I am getting sick of listening to so much.

Thanks goodness Faldo wasn't on the ABC show, he was replace by Tom Watson, who did a credible job but he has to work hard for any future as a broadcaster. You see Watson is a bit shy in jumping in and being a announcer, he needs the help of a Tirico to set him up. Watson gave some of the spark that producers were hoping for like Johnny Miller does, but unfortunely Watson was over shadowed by Azinger who was on top of his game.

What many don't give Azinger credit for was being the back bone of the Azinger/Faldo booth experience. When ABC lost golf, Azinger lost interest in TV but Faldo pursued it and was lucky enough to steal away the CBS job from Lanny Wadkins. Frankly I can only hope that Azinger will be able to steal the Ryder Cup away from Faldo in a couple of months and if the folks at CBS, NBC or even Golf Channel are smart they would put Azinger in the booth were he belongs.

Azinger gave us a lot of great moments and frank talk about things like Harrington winning, Norman's collapse and the storyline of playing golf on links courses. Of course there is no need to talk about Tirico, he is the best in the business and again it's a shame to just see him do early round coverage of the other majors that ESPN does.

As for the telecast, a lot of good production value with actor Gary Oldman doing a lot of the scene set pieces, teases and rejoins from commercial. I also love Tom Rinaldi, he is a top notch interviewer and a pretty good writer on pieces. If the new management at Golf Channel want some fresh people for their telecasts, I would tell them to try and figure out a way to get both Rinaldi, who would improve their post game shows and Terry Gannon, who would be a perfect host to replace Kelly once she is gone from that perch.

As for the four days of golf they were almost perfect, unfortunely they got bogged down on Sunday after play was finished. They seemed out of step trying to fill the ten minutes of dead time between the final putt and presentation of the Claret Jug and this brought on two major mistakes. The first was a terribly wrong leader board that aired more than once that had K.J. Choi in 3rd place four strokes better than his final score was. Now this is totally inexcusable in this day and age of computers. The second major mistake was Tom Watson talking about amateur Chris Wood and saying that his fifth place finish got him into the Masters, that wasn't true since the Masters only invite those in the top-four. This mistake needed to be fixed and wasn't.

So because of these major problems I give them a A- instead of a A+, still the show was great and I will miss not seeing this team together for another year.

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Look at some of the players that we expected a lot more from this week and didn't deliver

Sunday, July 20, 2008 5:38 pm (Eastern)

By Sal Johnson

Disappoint all around for Chris Wood, Simon Wakefield, Sergio Garcia, Phil Mickelson, Ernie Els and Jim Furyk.

Photo: © Glyn Kirk/AFP/Getty Images A bogey at the last hole cost Chris Wood a invite to the Masters.

So we got through a major championship without Tiger Woods, yes we got a bit of surprise on Sunday when amateur Chris Wood worked his way up the leaderboard, shades of Justin Rose from ten years ago. The difference between Wood finish today and Rose a decade ago, Rose chipped in for birdie to finish T4th. If Wood could of accomplished the same feat and chip in for birdie he would of finished 3rd alone. Unfortunately he wasn't able to chip in or even get it up and down and the bogey cost him a trip to the Masters (those in the top four got the invite). How close did Wood come to really winning, not close. He know on the tenth tee that he was just three back but as he said afterward, "It's probably not by day." As for the immediate future he isn't planning on turning professional.

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Photo: © Andrew Redington/Getty Images) Simon Wakefield had a disappointing finish on Sunday.

Another Englishman that showed some potential was Simon Wakefield. Now the pressure is intense to become the first Englishman to win the British Open on foreign soil, it hasn't been accomplished in 40 years since Tony Jacklin did it in 1969. So when Westwood got within a couple a shots at the turn it was a big disappointment to finish bogey, par, triple-bogey, par. His back nine 43 turned a good round into a 79 and with it he dropped into a T19th and with it won't get an automatic invite next year at Turnberry. Still he is a rising player and the $75,000 that he earned this week raised him to 68th on the European order of Merit so with a couple of weeks off he will be ready for the home stretch on the European Tour schedule.

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Photo: © Glyn Kirk/AFP/Getty Images Tournament favorite Sergio Garcia didn't play like a favorite this week.

Other disappoints this week was the favorite Sergio Garcia. He shot 78 on Sunday and finished T51st. His problem was with just about every part of his game, he was T35th in driving accuracy, was T49th in greens hit missing half of them and was T42nd in putting. Five three putts and four doubles played havoc for him. The stretch of holes 10, 11 and 12 were brutal for him as he was 8 over on them. Now Garcia won the Players Championship which is a really big deal, but in the majors it's been a bust for him missing the cut at the Masters, T18th at the U.S. Open and now T51st.

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Photo: © Richard Heathcote/Getty Images Another bewildering week for Phil Mickelson with the putter.

Another bust was Phil Mickelson, again a very inconsistent week shooting 79-68-76-71. Of course it was a serious of excuses from Mickelson, first how well he hit the ball in the wind but didn't capitalise on some of the shots that he hit. More for him to worry about, his putting. This week he finished T75th and he admits that it's been a problem for him this year. "When I had a couple of good putting weeks, like at Colonial and L.A., I ended up winning," Mickelson said. He knows that he can do better and will be working on nothing but putting before the Bridgestone in two weeks.

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Photo: © Stuart Franklin/Getty Images Ernie Els got off to a poor start on Thursday

Another player we can't explain this week was Ernie Els. 80-69-74-69, he was the only player in the field other than Padraig Harrington to break 70 twice. Of course that was the good side of his week, but again Els is frustrated with his game and lack of consistency. He played himself out of the tournament shooting 45 on the back nine on Thursday. If he could of played it around even par he would of been contending with Padraig. Again no rhyme or reason to what ails his game, this week he didn't hit many fairways and plans on flying to Las Vegas next week to work with Butch Harmon before the Bridgestone. We just wonder if it's the mechanics of his game or if it isn't mental. He swings the ball as smoothly as before, he putts as well as he always has, his bunker play is top quality but his game isn't the level that it was three or four years ago. Just wonder if all of these sessions with Butch Harmon will pay off.

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Photo: © Richard Heathcote/Getty Images With Jim Furyk's finish on Sunday, it will give him more confidence to defend his title in Canada.

One last person that kicks himself for this weekend is Jim Furyk. Between the 10th hole on Saturday and the 2nd hole on Sunday he was nine over par, what more do I have to say. But he did get things together playing his last 16 holes in one under, which will feel great on the plane to Canada. For Furyk he will again be the top favorite in the Canadian Open.

Other disapointments saw Justin Rose finish 70th, that isn't helping his Ryder Cup cause as he is 10th with a hot Ross Fisher and Ian Poulter right behind him. But his lack of good play isn't giving Ryder Cup Captain Justin Rose any reasons to make him a wild card pick. Those that helped there cause this week was Henrik Stenson and Ian Poulter, both of them gave Faldo a message with their T3rd and runner-up finish. If I was to look into my crystal ball I would say that those on the team right now are Lee Westwood, Robert Karlsson, Miguel Angel Jimenez, Sergio Garcia, Graeme McDowell and Padraig Harrington. The rest of the spots will be wide open as even players like Colin Montgomerie will have to play better in the next month to make the team.


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It's all in Padraig Harrington's hands

Sunday, July 20, 2008 12:57 pm (Eastern)

By Sal Johnson

Stick a fork into Norman, Ian Poulter gets close but will it be enough?

So I guess we can stick a fork into Greg Norman, again it's sad that he will again be remembered for a player that has a great three round record at the majors but can't seem to get the job done in the final round.

Photo: © Adrian Dennis/AFP/Getty Images Padraig Harrington has had a very steady round today.

Since we lasted posted a lot has happened. First Simon Wakefield has woken up and realized that he was at the British Open and is four over on the back nine, he has dropped back to 11 over. Nice to see that amateur Chris Wood is hanging in there, he is T4th with Norman at 9 over par. After bogeys at 11, 12 and 13 he has bounced back a bit with a birdie at 17. After to root hard for the kid if he can keep it up and finish in the top-four, those players get invites to the 2008 Masters. That would be a great thing for the 20 year-old. Unfortunately Wood bogey 18 and he is T5th and is going to have to get some help from Greg Norman to get a trip to Augusta next April.

How about Jim Furyk, he is at 10 over shooting 71 today and you have to wonder if he isn't kicking himself for his 43 on the back nine yesterday. Just to think if he could have been even par he would be at 3 over and leading by a bunch, oh well he can only dream. My pool guy Anthony Kim will also be kicking himself because he is at 10 over par and despite being the leader in greens hit, he is almost last in putting, that has been his downfall.

Photo: © Adrian Dennis/AFP/Getty Images This picture tells the story on Greg Norman's day

One person sneaking up the leaderboard is Henrik Stenson, remember him from winning the Accenture Match Play last year. We haven't seen much from him but he is 2 under for the day and with a hole left he could give Harrington something to think about.

Now as we said, Norman has played himself out of this championship, he has been terrible just making another bogey at 12. For the day he has made no birdies and seven bogeys and it's not a great way of ending a career. Sorry to say this but his legacy will be not being able to bring home the goods.

Now for Ian Poulter, he shot a 69 and is in the clubhouse at 7 over. For him he has to kick himself for three-putting 17, if he loses that hole will be the reason. Still Poulter did make a bomb from about 15 feet at 18 so I guess things average out. Poulter has said a lot of things, he is a very cocky guy and the press are very mixed on liking and disliking him.

But let's be real on all of this, the Open is in the hands of Padraig Harrington. He is 1 over for the day and 5 over for the week. He has really been steady all day. He has done just what is needed, with his birdie at 15 he has a little breathing room for the final stretch.


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So what is this Wood on the leaderboard, no it's not Tiger it's English amateur Chris Wood

Sunday, July 20, 2008 11:10 am (Eastern)

By Sal Johnson

Another amateur comes to the forefront at Birkdale, this time it's Englishman Chris Wood

No it's not Tiger Woods without a s, it's amateur Chris Wood. What a story that could be, an English amateur champion and Wood could be that. First of all let's have a history lessson of amateurs in majors.

Photo: © David Cannon/Getty Images Amateur Chris Wood of England salutes the crowd on the 7th after making a birdie

First of all we have seen 14 amateur winners in the majors, six at the British Open and 8 at the British Open. The last at the British was Bobby Jones in 1930, the last in any major was Johnny Goodman in the 1933 U.S. Open.

Since World War II there has been four players that have been runner-up in six events, Frank Stranahan was runner-up three times. Stranahan was runnerup in the 1947 Masters, '47 British Open and the '53 British Open. The others were Ken Venturi in the 1956 Masters, Jack Nicklaus in the 1960 U.S. Open and Charles Coe in the 1961 Masters.

Since 1970, there have been only two top-ten finishes in majors, Justin Rose T4th in 1998 and Jim Simons T5th in the 1971 U.S. Open.

Now let's learn a bit about Wood, he is a 20 year-old from Bristol, England which is a working class town about 100 miles west of London. Woods won the English Golf Union's order of merit in 2007 and made his debut for England in the Home Internationals in the same year. He won the Russian Amateur title earlier that season and, as a result, was invited to play in the European Tour's Russian Open later in the season. He also shared the 2007 West of England Strokeplay title with David Horsey while, earlier in 2008, he won the Welsh Open Strokeplay championship. A member of the England under-21 squad in 2005/06, part of the A squad in 2006/07 and now a member of the current elite squad. A member at Long Ashton in Bristol since he was nine-years-old, he was a single figure handicapper by the age of 12. A keen footballer - he was a striker for Nailsea United Juniors and went to the Bristol City F.C Academy - a knee injury hampered his career and at 15 he opted to focus on golf. He started out with rounds of 75-70-73 and par the first 2 holes made bogey at 3 then par 4, 5 and 6. Made a good putt at 7 for birdie and then made another birdie at 9 to play the front nine in one under. Unfortunately he just bogeyed the 11th but isn't it a treat to have another Justin Rose story this week.


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Sal Johnson

Norman looks shaky as Harrington takes the lead, Simon Wakefield is in contention with birdie at 5

Sunday, July 20, 2008 10:24 am (Eastern)

By Sal Johnson

Norman can't buy a putt, Harrington is steady while Wakefield stays in contention.

A bit odd of a start for Norman. First of all, nobody is making a run which in a way should help players like Norman and Harrington, but Choi has to be a bit upset with his bogey at the first. Lot's of drama at the first tee, lot's of folks with mixed opinions. I would say after watching the first tee that half the crowd is rooting for Norman and the other is rooting for Harrington. Lot's of excitement and you had to think that Norman was doing the right thing by hitting iron off the tee. I thought it got him off to a great start, striping it down the middle. But his second shot with a 4 iron wasn't that good, putting it into the greenside bunker and making bogey.

Photo: © Adrian Dennis/AFP/Getty Images Padraig Harrington raced past Greg Norman with three pars on the first three holes.

Poor drive at 2 and then from 157 yards a very poor 5 iron left of the green. Great chip but again from 7 feet he couldn't make the putt. So what is up, two straight bogeys and with Harrington making steady pars they are tied.

Again the weather is OK, winds at about 25 mph but very manageable. One player that I have a rooting interest in (have him in a little 100 pound pool) is Anthony Kim, who has par his first five holes and just barely missed a 15 footer for birdie at 5. At 3 Norman hit another poor tee shot right this time and was left from 195 with a impossible shot which comes up short and left. Again his game looks very shaky. Harrington was just in the right rough and from 160 with an 8 iron hit's it into a bunker. Now Harrington almost holes out his shot and does what he needs to do make his 15 footer for par, while Norman chips up to about 6 feet but misses it. Harrington has made three pars and now has the lead from Norman who looks terrible, something that we were concerned about. Another player having problems with their putter is K.C. Choi who has missed short putts at 4, 5 and 6 and is now 8 over, shades of his weekend fold last year at Carnoustie.

Oh, Harrington and Norman made pars at four, Harrington missed a golden opportunity with a 10 footer for birdie at 4. Another oh, Simon Wakefield hit his second shot 5 feet away at five and after making four solid pars and with a birdie at 5 is now tied with Norman and just one back of Harrington. What do we think of Wakefield, shades of Paul Lawrie, Ben Curtis and Todd Hamilton.


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Sunday Morning at the British, all thoughts on if the Shark can do it

Sunday, July 20, 2008 9:07 am (Eastern)

By Sal Johnson

What a day it will be in golf history if Norman can win today, all the eyes of golf on Birkdale today.

The reality of what Greg Norman is doing has hit home here at Birkdale. After a night's sleep to think about it, the consensus in the media tent is that today could be one of the biggest days in golf. It's really funny on how just a week ago everyone was wondering how boring the British Open or any tournament was going to be about Tiger Woods, but in the last 16 hours or so everyone has forgotten about Tiger.

Photo: © David Cannon/Getty Images The 18th green is prepared by R&A officials prior to the final round of the British Open

That's because the story of Greg Norman, who basically was the Tiger of golf 15 years ago could make everyone forget about Tiger. If Norman can win, it would be one of the top-five stories in golf history, ranked up there with Tiger's Torrey win, Francis Ouimet winning in 1913, Ben Hogan winning in 1950 and of course Jack Nicklaus comeback in the 1986 Masters. Not only would Norman at 53 be the oldest major championship winner, he would become the oldest winner on both the PGA Tour (passing Sam Snead's 1965 Greensboro record at 52 years old) and surpass Des Smyth European tour record (Smyth was 48 years old when he won the 2001 Madeira Island Open).

In looking at everything that could be accomplished today the most important thing that Norman will do is erase the last real memory we have of him, losing a big lead to Nick Faldo at the 1996 Masters. Yes Norman won two more times in his career in 1997 but the most vivid memory for most of us is that awkward scene with Faldo on the final green at Augusta. For Norman, visits to Augusta had to be disheartening and as one Masters winner once told me whenever he saw Norman pass the door of the champions locker room, it was always a strain never being able to come up with the right words at such a uncomfortable time.

Golf will always remember the Woods and the Nicklaus's, Palmer's, Watson's, Hogan's, Snead's, Nelson's Jones, Hagen's, Vardon and even Gary Player but because of all the times that Norman lost he isn't considered one of the top players of all time in the same circle of those other greats. But if he was able to win today, it would be about as big of a victory as if someone got away with robbing American's gold reserve in Fort Knox and he would go down and be mention in the list of great champions.

Can Norman do it? Yes, but it's not going to be easy. One thing that is frighting is how bad he is driving the ball. Yesterday he only hit 3 of 14 fairways and for the week and only five others are driving the ball worst than Norman. He also has had a lot of pressure on him, being high up the leaderboard since he played Thursday morning. That pressure along with the wind which is blowing 25 miles per hour will make it tough. Yes the sun is out and it's a crisp day, matter of fact it feels like a fall day in the northeast United States. But my memory of these kind of days was always being greated by the legendary late announcer Jim McKay who would dub this day, Championship Sunday.

As of 1pm English time, nobody is making a run on Norman but we will see if a Sergio Garcia or a Anthony Kim will make that big run to add to the Shark's pressure.

It will also be interesting to see how many people will be watching this week, not only in ABC's ratings but interest over here in England.

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The Cinderella story continues as Greg Norman leads the British by two going into the final round

Saturday, July 19, 2008 6:29 pm (Eastern)

By Sal Johnson

The question on everyone's minds is if the Shark will be able to bring the Claret Jug home for his new bride or will he again suffer the jaws of defeat in a major.

Photo: © Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images Greg Norman and his new bride Chris Evert seem like a couple of high school kids experiencing first love.

It would be fair to say that coming to Royal Birkdale this week not one scribe, not one official, not one fan thought that we could possibly have a story that rivaled Torrey Pines. Even if Greg Norman wins, Tiger Woods winning the U.S. Open with a broken leg will be the best but a Norman win will be second best of the year and probably second best of the last couple of decades.

For years Norman was the best player in the world that just couldn't seem to win majors. Yes he won the 1986 and '93 British Open's but look at this chart on Golfstats. It shows that this is the 8th time that Norman has had the lead or a share of the lead going into the final round of a major. But the hard core facts of this is that only once has he won. It is well documented how many times he has blown a major championship. Just look at this chart on Golfstats, which is the times that he has gone into the final round either with the lead, a share of the lead or within five of the lead. This shows the true meaning of the number of majors that Norman could of won, yes 23 times he had chances at winning and only won twice, that is heartbreak city right there.

A look at best finishes in major championships of players in their 50s
Player	Finish/Major	Age
Harry Vardon	T2nd in 1920 U.S. Open	50 years, 3 months, 4 days
Sam Snead	T3rd in 1963 Masters	50 years, 10 months, 11 days
Tommy Bolt	3rd in 1971 PGA Championship	54 years, 10 months, 28 days
Sam Snead	T3rd in 1974 PGA Championship	62 years, 2 months, 15 days
Sam Snead	T4th in 1972 PGA Championship	60 years, 2 months, 10 days
Tom Kite	T5th in 2001 U.S. Open	51 years, 6 months, 9 days
Sam Snead	T6th in 1962 British Open	50 years, 1 month, 17 days
Sam Snead	T6th in 1965 PGA Championship	53 years, 2 months, 19 days
Sam Snead	T6th in 1966 PGA Championship	54 years, 1 month, 20 days
Jack Nicklaus	6th in 1990 Masters	50 years, 2 months, 18 days
Jack Nicklaus	T6th in 1998 Masters	58 years, 2 months, 22 days
Julius Boros	T7th in 1973 U.S. Open	53 years, 3 months, 14 days
Harry Vardon	T8th in 1922 British Open	52 years, 1 months, 14 days
Gene Sarazen	T9th in 1956 PGA Championship	54 years, 4 months, 28 days
Ben Hogan	T9th in 1964 Masters	51 years, 7 months, 30 days
Ben Hogan	T9th in 1964 PGA Championship	51 years, 11 months, 6 days
Tom Watson	T9th in 2000 PGA Championship	50 years, 11 months, 16 days
Jay Haas	T9th in 2004 U.S. Open	50 years, 6 months, 18 days

So what does all of this prove, that he can't win on Sunday at Royal Birkdale? I believe that the 24th time will be the charm, that Norman will walk away at the age of 53 with the British Open title for the third time. So why will this happen, his competitive juices and not against the field but against his new wife Chris Evert. You see Evert has won 18 times in majors and you just have to think that during some bed-time conversation she has mention that she has 18 wins over his 2. Matter of fact Evert won her 18 before Norman won his in 1986. Now Norman is never going to catch Evert but he can turn the tables and say that he is the last one in the family to win a major.

What is fun this week is not watching Greg but watching Chris Evert watch Greg. She may be 53 in age but she is acting like a teenager back in high school watching her boyfriend that is the star quarterback. She is giddy when he makes great shots and looks to suffer when he has problems. But in the long run she is having a great time in her new career being Mrs. Greg Norman. In reverse I think that the same is true for Norman, he is enjoying making Evert happy by playing well and would love to bring home the title on Sunday night, like a conqueror making a big conquest of some country. In a way this is the ultimate competition, Norman may of lost the Masters in 1996 to Nick Faldo but the pain of that won't be as bad as not taking home the Claret Jug to Chris on Sunday night.

Now what would a Norman victory do for golf on Sunday? It will make us forget for a bit that Tiger Woods wasn't here, for the folks at ABC Sports, sorry ESPN, it will give them a very pleasant surprise when they read the ratings on Monday morning. But most of all it will be the first truly great, non-Tiger story since Norman blew the Masters 12 years ago.

Greg Norman stats for the day & week
Category	Saturday	Week (rank)
Fairways hit:	3 of 14	16 of 42 (T77th)
Driving average:	305.5	288.8 (T47th)
Greens hit:	11 of 18	32 of 54 (T7th)
Putts:	31	86 (T8th)
0-putt greens:	0	0
1-putt greens:	5	22
2-putt greens:	13	32
3-putt greens:	0	0

So I repeat the question, can Norman win on Sunday, I bet you that I have converted you all over. If you aren't converted yet and feel that Norman will stick the sword into him another time, just think of these words that he uttered in a press interview after his round, on how he is more at ease during a round and that despite having any high expectations he knows that he has the experience to win. Yes Norman may be 53 years old but his body is as trim and fit as a lot of athletes in their 20s so that won't be a problem. Yes he hasn't played much tournament golf of late but as Jack Nicklaus said on Friday, if Norman gets into position to win he will remember how to win or how to close. Yes experience is great.

Now here is some oddities that we have to consider, since we don't see 53 year old men going into a final round of a major with the lead. Just once has this happened in the majors, that was in 1973 when Julius Boros had the 54 hole lead at the U.S. Open at about the same age as Norman, 53. If Norman would win he would be the oldest major champion at the age of 53 years, 5 months and 11 days, topping 1968 PGA Championship winner Julius Boros (48 years, 4 months and 18 days). The oldest winner of the Open Championship was Tom Morris Sr., who was 46 years, 3 months and 9 days old when he won in 1867. Norman would be the 20th player in British Open history to win at least three times, joining Jamie Anderson, Seve Ballesteros, Henry Cotton, Nick Faldo, Bob Ferguson, Bobby Jones, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Tiger Woods as a three time winner.

But I still think more importunely at the end of the day what may be the most important thing for Norman is to be able to bring home the Jug for Chris and show his new bride that he isn't just a "has-been" but is a pretty good golfing stud that can still win the prize for his gal, in a way that will be more important than anything else.


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Can Harrington, bad wrist and all make it a double-double this week?

Saturday, July 19, 2008 5:12 pm (Eastern)

By Sal Johnson

Harrington is looking to win his second consective British Open championship, which would make him the 16th player in Open history to win consecutive years.

Padraig Harrington stats for the day & week
Category	Today	Week (rank)
Fairways hit:	7 of 14	21 of 42 (T50th)
Driving average:	311.0	292.2 (36th)
Greens hit:	11 of 18	28 of 54 (T34th)
Putts:	32	87 (T11th)
0-putt greens:	1	2
1-putt greens:	5	20
2-putt greens:	9	29
3-putt greens:	3	3

So who was the last player to defend his British Open title? Of course that is easy, Tiger Woods who did it just two years ago down the road at Hoylake. That is the drama that awaits Padraig Harrington, who on Wednesday was thinking of withdrawing because of a sore wrist and now is looking the win the British Open two years straight. Four days after contemplating withdrawing on Saturday night he will go to bed with the dream of being just the 16 player in British Open history and just the fifth since World War II to accomplish that feat. Hopefully Harrington is reading this blog because defending and playing at Birkdale has some history. For example, Peter Thomson won in 1954 at Birkdale and won the next two times. Arnold Palmer did the same feat, winning at Birkdale and then winning the next year in 1962. Lee Trevino won at Birkdale in 1971 and then accomplished the back to back win the next year and in 1982 Tom Watson won at Troon and then won at Birkdale the next year. So in the eight years the Open has been held at Birkdale, half of them have had back to back wins involved.

For Harrington he is again playing just like he did last year. Last year the week before the British he went off to the European Club and won the Irish PGA Championship then won at Carnoustie. Last week he did it again, going over to the European Club and winning the Irish PGA again. As Pat Ruddy, the owner of the European Club said to me, "is it too much to hope for the "double double" for Harrington. If he does it again it's going to cost me a bundle not being able to charge green fees again next year because he will have to hold the Irish PGA at the European Club".

Photo: © Stuart Franklin/Getty Images Padraig Harrington shows a lot of determination on his face looking to win the British Open two years in a row

The big question will be if Harrington can win again on Sunday. On Saturday he shot 72 on a day that he made 4 birdies, 4 bogeys and one double. Again he was totally focused on his game as he said that he never looked at a leaderboard all day. Again Harrington looks forward to the challenge on Sunday and hopes for high winds giving him a great chance at victory. As for playing in the final group with Greg Norman, he has experience in playing with Norman at the British Open. But the big question, will Harrington play his game like he has done the first couple of days, avoiding any look at the leaderboard and then playing against Norman? Last year Harrington was six back going into the final round and backed into the championship when Garcia couldn't hold the lead. How will Harrington do in a mano-a-mano battle with the Great White Shark? As Harrington said he had no stress in the final round last year until the final holes. He would love to have the same attitude tomorrow but he knows playing with the leader will bring different stresses and pressures that he didn't have last year.

As for me, I really don't think that he can do it, there will be way too many things for him to worry about. But by chance if I am wrong and he wins it will be a great victory for the Irishman, even greater than last year.


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Tank runs into a bulldozer with Greg Norman on Saturday

Saturday, July 19, 2008 4:59 pm (Eastern)

By Sal Johnson

But that doesn't mean that Choi is beat, he will be just two back of the Shark and a good round will make him the first male Asian to win a major championship.

For a lot of folks, the thought was that this could be the week for K.J. Choi. Again as we said in yesterday's blog, for the second year in a row at the British Open he goes into Saturday with a chance at winning and has a flat third round.

K.J. Choi stats for the day & week
Category	Today	Week (rank)
Fairways hit:	4 of 14	24 of 42 (T77)
Driving average:	305.5	291.7 (T47)
Greens hit:	9 of 18	31 of 54 (T7)
Putts:	30	87 (T8)
0-putt greens:	0	0
1-putt greens:	7	22
2-putt greens:	10	31
3-putt greens:	1	1

Still that doesn't mean that he can't win this week, he can. He is only two back and with Greg Norman's reputation of not doing the deed in a major after leading, you never know if Choi can slip in. Last year Choi was T3rd going into the final round but he was six back of Sergio Garcia.

Choi shot 75 and as he said "I still feel good about the round." Choi had problems today hitting fairways, he only hit 4 fairways. This lead to an erratic round in which he had just one birdie, two bogeys and two double bogeys. If there is a highlight to his week it has to be his play on the 13th hole in which he has birdied all three rounds. But if there is a low part it's the 10th hole, which he has made a par, bogey and on Saturday a double bogey.

After the round, Choi talked with Chuah Choo Chiang, the media director of the Asian Tour. As Choi told Chiang, he is looking to become the first Asian male to win a major championship. He feels that he can deny Greg Norman and Padraig Harrington tomorrow. “I will have to try to catch up. I enjoy the golf course, and I’m comfortable on this course. Today was tougher than the third round at Carnoustie in 1999 when the winds were 35mph then but today was more than that." As Choi related about the day, “I couldn’t control my tee shot or putting. The key was the putting. I was scared when I took a backswing as the wind was moving the ball.” said Choi.

K.J., nicknamed the “Tank”, will play in the second last pairing in Sunday’s final round and said that a two-shot deficit wasn’t much at Royal Birkdale. “If it is windy tomorrow, it will be tough for everyone. I had a hard time with my putting. Tomorrow, it’ll be important for me to putt well. I missed about three or four putts from inside four feet. I try to hit it harder but it was always short. The wind was blowing which made it tough,” said the Korean.


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