... 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

Padraig Harrington is your 2008 champion golfer of the year - the winner of the Open Championship.

Final Leaders
Padraig Harrington, 74-68-72-65--279
Ian Poulter, 72-71-75-69--287
Greg Norman, 70-70-72-72--284
Henrik Stenson, 76-72-70-71--289
Jim Furyk, 71-71-77-71--290
Chris Wood, 75-70-73-72--290
Full Scores

This tournament will be remembered for the brutal weather conditions. And for Greg Norman's tale, a tale that will surely be spun as another failure in a long line of failures for Norman.

That's a shame. This performance was totally unexpected, a great surprise, and being in the mix at a British Open at age 53 when you've barely played in five years - well, that's a remarkable story, and should be one full of joy for Norman. I hope he can find that. It would have been so much better for Norman to have started the day two strokes behind rather than two ahead ...

And Harrington? Two wins total in majors is a very good thing. Two wins in a row in majors is a great thing. The names of the back-to-back champs at the British Open are names like Woods, Watson, Trevino, Hagen, Jones. The all-time greats.

No, Harrington isn't an all-time great, but, then, he still has time. Slow and steady wins the race, they say, and Paddy is nothing if not slow and steady. My guess is this win all but guarantees his spot in the World Golf Hall of Fame some day; the International voters will give him the nod with two majors, combined with (as of now) 13 European Tour wins and five PGA Tour wins (including his two British Opens). Harrington's record will certainly compare favorably with - or surpass that - of Bernhard Langer's by the end of his career.

Oh, and Paddy: Don't forget to sign your scorecard.

What's happening today?

Update: Norman pars the fourth after three straight bogeys. Paddy now in the lead by one (Harrington opened with four straight pars).

Update: Norman's hanging in there pretty good. So good that he's tied for the lead -- +6 through 8 holes, with Harrington.

Padraig Harrington +6 (8)
Greg Norman +6 (8)
Simon Wakefield +7 (8)
Ian Poulter +8 (11)
(a) Chris Wood +8 (11)
Anthony Kim +8 (10)
Henrik Stenson +9 (10)
Ben Curtis +9 (9)
Ross Fisher +9 (9)

Update: Lead now +7, Norman and Paddy, through 11. Ernie Els is in the clubhouse at +12. Jim Furyk is in a bunker at No. 18, if he gets up and down he'll take the clubhouse lead at +10.

Update: Furyk is in at +10. Pretty amazing that he has a shot, eh? ABC just pointed out that the last four groups - the final one is through 11 -  have produced only two birdies among them.

Update: A birdie! By Ian Poulter on No. 16 to get into a share of the lead at +7. With the par-5 17th next, Poulter is looking pretty good. He should at least knock the clubhouse lead down.

Update: Norman has a very hangdog demeanor now. Dammit, Chrissie, get in there! "Greg, I lost to Martina 143 straight times! But I never gave up!"

 Update: Poulter in at +7 with a great par-saver at No. 18. Paddy leads at +6 through 14.

Update: Paddy is the winner. There's one hole left, but with an eagle at No. 17 Harrington has a 4-shot lead.

As Andrew Magee said in exasperation several times during "Big Break: Kaanapali": What is going on here?

David Duval fell back to earth in the third round of the British Open, but not Greg Norman. Norman is orbiting two strokes clear of the field. Yep, the 53-year-old (I've been calling him 52 all week, but he's even more of a golf geezer than I realized) Norman is the British Open leader:

Leaderboard
Greg Norman, 70-70-72--212
Padraig Harrington, 74-68-72--214
K.J. Choi, 72-67-75--214
Simon Wakefield, 71-74-70--215
Ben Curtis, 78-69-70--217
Ross Fisher, 72-74-71--217
Anthony Kim, 72-74-71--217
Alexander Noren, 72-70-75--217
Henrik Stenson, 76-72-70--218
Graeme Storm, 76-70-72--218
Chris Wood, 75-70-73--218
Ian Poulter, 72-71-75--218
Robert Allenby, 69-73-76--218
Rocco Mediate, 69-73-76--218
Full Scoreboard

And next come the power-packed fivesome of Davis Love III, Steve Stricker, Retief Goosen, Sergio Garcia and Jim Furyk.

It's been 11 years since Norman won a PGA Tour event; six years since he played more than 10 times on tour; four years since he played more than three PGA Tour tournaments; three years since he made a cut on the PGA Tour.

Norman has been otherwise occupied for a long time, in other words. And that's why I just don't think he'll hold up on Sunday. I hope he does, though, it'd be a great story.

Meanwhile, if the wind continues to howl on Sunday, don't count out the fellas at 219 - Love, Stricker, Goosen, Garcia, Furyk. Any of them might wind up the winner. In these conditions, someone posting a good score early could well sneak away with the Claret Jug.

Phil Mickelson is 5-over through 12 holes as this is posted, so anyone who thought Phil could get back into it (I'm looking at you, BogeyMcDuff) will have to give up on that dream.

Use this thread to discuss the action from today's play while it is in progress.

Update: The leaders are off and the wind is howling. Rocco Mediate hit a 200-yard drive into the wind, had 221 left to the green on a par-4, one-putted for par. Gonna be a long day for the lads.

A couple of players have broached the possibility, and the R&A has looked at the possibility, of suspending play due to the 30 mph "breeze" - the concern is balls moving on greens. But so far, they play on.

Update: The guys who got into the clubhouse at 7-over - Ben Curtis, Ross Fisher and Anthony Kim - are looking like they'll be in pretty good spots at the end of today. Curtis was 38th at the start ot the day, shot 70, and - as I write this - sits 11th. Kim and Fisher were tied for 27th, shot 71s, and now are tied with Curtis in 11th. Simon Wakefield is through 17 with an even-par round going. If he pars the last, he'll get into the clubhouse at 5-over.

Update: Worst scores of the day so far are a par of 83s. Plus two 82s, one of them by Justin Rose. But it's looking like David Duval, alas, may top them. He's 12-over through 12.

Update: Watching Greg Norman's attempt to mark his ball - he'd reach down with his coin, pull it back because the ball oscillated, make another try, pull it back, try again, pull it back - makes me think it would entirely reasonable to suspend play. The pickle the R&A is in is if they suspend play, when do they resume? The weather report is for howling winds through tomorrow. A suspension might lead to the completion of the tournament on Monday, possibly even Tuesday.

Greg Norman and David Duval in the Top 10 after two rounds? Wow. My trifecta bet on Norman, Duval and Gordan Brand Jr. doesn't look so foolish now, does it?

Leaders after Two Rounds
KJ Choi, 72-67--139
Greg Norman, 70-70--140
Camilo Villegas, 76-65--141
Rocco Mediate, 69-73--142
Graeme McDowell, 69-73--142
Jim Furyk, 71-71--142
Robert Allenby, 69-73--142
Alexander Noren, 72-70--142
Padraig Harrington, 74-68--142
David Duval, 73-69--142
Full scores

And wasn't Padraig Harrington's wrist supposed to be killing him? That's a very nice leaderboard.

Norman, age 52, went out early and shot 70. Then Duval, previously believed to be deceased, went out late and shot 69 with a nice up-and-down for par on the last.

With a handful of players still on the course (but none near the leaders), there have been 12 sub-70 rounds posted on Friday. The fact that Duval had one of them is remarkable.

But perhaps David discovered something, turned a corner, within the past couple months. In his two most recent tournaments, he made his first cut of the year at the Stanford St. Jude in early June; then last week at the John Deere Classic - although he missed the cut - Duval had his first sub-70 round of the year.

Duval suprises me even more than Norman. Duval has been trying the past five years, and getting nowhere. Norman's just been tending to other business. Norman has shown glimpses of still having the talent, he just doesn't play enough.

And let's give kudos to Phil Mickelson and Ernie Els for not throwing in the towel. Those 12 sub-70 rounds? Mickelson and Els had two of them, Mickelson recovering from an opening 79 with a 68; Els rebounding from an 80 with a 69. Phil is all the way up to 37th (again, I'm writing this with a few players still on the course, so that specific placement might change); and it looks like Ernie will make the cut, too.

John Daly? 89.

Is this turn back the clock week at the British Open? I woke up this morning to the news that Greg Norman is leading after shooting 70 in his second round. Whatever Chris Evert is doing is working ...

Camilo Villegas had a great day today, a 65. Easily the best round of the day so far, among those who've finished (which, as I write this, appears to be a little less than half the field). Next best so far is a 69 by Soren Hansen.

Phil Mickelson is even through nine and that has moved him to within a stroke of the projected cut line.

Discuss today's doings and tomorrow's expectations.

Here's the leaderboard after the first round:

Rocco Mediate, 69
Graeme McDowell, 69
Robert Allenby, 69
Greg Norman, 70
Adam Scott, 70
Bart Bryant, 70
Retief Goosen, 71
Mike Weir, 71
Jim Furyk, 71
Gregory Havret, 71
Fredrik Jacobson, 71
Peter Hanson, 71
Simon Wakefield, 71
Anthony Wall, 71

And some of the notables:

K.J. Choi, 72
Anthony Kim, 72
Sergio Garcia, 72
Justin Rose, 74
Padraig Harrington, 74
Trevor Immelman, 74
Stewart Cink, 75
Geoff Ogilvy, 77
Justin Leonard, 77
Angel Cabrera, 77
Steve Stricker, 77
Phil Mickelson, 79
Ernie Els, 80
Vijay Singh, 80

How bad was Mickelson's day? He lost to David Duval (73). How bad were Els and Singh? They lost to Duval, and didn't beat John Daly (80), either.

Sandy Lyle is apparently a creature of habit. He quit midway through the second round the last time the Open Championship was played at Royal Birkdale. This time, he only made it halfway through the first round before walking off the course.

“I’d lost all my momentum, my fingers were numb and I couldn’t feel the club. I walked in for the sake of my playing partners as much as anything.”

This may be the final nail in the coffin of Lyle's chances to captain a European Ryder Cup team. No, the R&A doesn't run the Ryder Cup or select European captains. But having the R&A mad at you - as they are at Lyle today - is something that might sink Lyle's chances nevertheless.

Rich Beem, too, walked off midway through today's round. Most upset about it? Third alternate Mark Brown, who would have loved the chance to play in miserable conditions:

“I’m not sure whether they were injured or what, but if they weren’t it’s very disappointing from my perspective,” he said. “I would have been out there in a flash.”

Today in Milwaukee:

• Kenny Perry, 67

• Phil Mickelson, 79
• Ernie Els, 80
• Vijay Singh, 80

"It's nice to get back in my office. It's nice to get back where I don't have to listen to all that baloney."

Being your own boss is a wonderful thing. I strongly doubt that Mickelson, Els or Singh, despite their poor showings today at the British Open, regret playing that tournament. And it's clear Perry doesn't regret his decision, either.