... and Open Thread ...

R&A
Padraig Harrington eagled the next-to-last hole of the tournament to seize the Claret Jug as the British Open championship. Or rather, to avoid relinquishing his hold as the defending champion.

Story | Scores

PGA Tour
Richard S. Johnson had a first-round 63 at the U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee, and a final-round 64. And that propelled him to the 1-stroke win over Ken Duke.

Story | Scores

Champions Tour
R.W. Eaks set a new tournament record at the 3M Championship with a 54-hole total of 193, six strokes ahead of second-place finishers Gary Hallberg and Bernhard Langer.

Story | Scores

Nationwide Tour
Colt Knost's final-round 62 included back-to-back eagles, and he pulled away from fellow Walker Cupper Webb Simpson to win the Price Cutter Charity Championship. Knost finished at 26-under 262, with Simpson alone in second at 266.

Scores

LPGA Tour
Yani Tseng bogied the 72nd hole to fall into a tie with Ji Young Oh at the State Farm Classic, the Oh won the playoff on the first extra hole.

Story | Scores

Ladies European Tour
Martina Eberl pulled away for a 5-stroke win at the Ladies Italian Open, her second win on the LET. Carmen Alonso was second and Maria Hjorth among a trio in third.

Story | Scores

Futures Tour
"Big Break: Kaanapali" champion Kim Welch posted her first win on the Futures Tour at the Alliance Bank Golf Classic, besting Jin Young Pak on the fourth playoff hole.

Scores

So much for the comeback:

Wie failed to sign her scorecard after Friday’s second round. She showed up Saturday and shot 5-under 67 to finish alone in second at 17 under, one stroke back of Yani Tseng. That’s when Wie learned of the LPGA’s ruling.

The 18-year-old Wie, who appeared to have been crying, told reporters she made a mistake.

“I don’t know how it happened,” she said.

This makes me very sad.

(Story)

In the third round of the LPGA State Farm Classic, Hee-Won Han is 11 under through 16 holes. If she finishes birdie-birdie, she'll have a 59 ...

Update: Not gonna happen. Unless Han holes out for an eagle on the par-4 ninth (her finishing hole). She parred her 17th. Han can still get a 60 with a last-hole birdie, though.

Michelle Wie shot 65 today in the State Farm Classic, following up a first-round 67, is 12-under and one off the lead of Christina Kim. Can she hang on and finish Top 5? Can she earn enough money here and in her one remaining exemption to secure some kind of status for 2009?

I'm moved to post about Michelle because of that 65. Coming from where she was in 2007, on the heels of an up-and-down, but generally solid and unremarkable 2008, that 65 is special: It's the lowest round Wie has ever posted on the LPGA Tour.

Yep. She's shot 65 once before, at the 2005 Samsung World Championship - her first pro event, the one from which she DQ'd. Does her 65 in the second round there count as an official round, given that she DQ'd? Not sure. Perhaps somebody can provide the answer in comments. If it doesn't, then today's 65 is a new career low.

Wie has posted 66 on numerous occasions, first at the 2003 Kraft Nabisco Championship, at age 13, in the third round, to get into the final group on Sunday (where she shot 76 to fall back to ninth).

But her most recent 66 was in the second round of the 2006 Evian Ladies Masters - her last really good tournament - where she finished second.

That's something that always surprised me about Wie, back when she was the Michelle Wie: That she never seemed to go really low. Back when she was the Michelle Wie, her talent was in almost always posting good scores. Rarely great ones, but almost always good ones. No 63s or 64s or - with the exception of the 2005 Samsung - 65s. Probably because her putting was so suspect. Another reason is context: Back when she was a great, she was playing only the top tournaments, which are usually contested on tougher courses.