|
For those of you who pooh-poohed the notion that any golf tournament lacking his highness with bum knee could be at all exciting, shame on you! As a matter of fact, this one would have likely been diminished had Tiger teed it up. C’mon, would it have been nearly as enrapturing had Greg Norman turned back time only to be trailing the freak at the 137th Open Championship? No, is your quick answer. It would have been nice, noteworthy, and surely sentimental, but by no means HISTORIC! For cryin’ out loud Eldrick, you have such a hold over the game, that you can have a positive impact even when you stay away! Anyway, let’s digest for a moment what we witnessed on this Saturday at Royal Birkdale. 35 mph. winds, waist high gorse, chest deep bunkers and putts that required stroking between oscillations, adequately describe the conditions. The “great white shark”, as he was known in his heyday, was living a dream and after 36-holes had refused to go away. Again, a nice story but I fully expected today’s round to resemble that of another come from nowhere leader, David Duvall.  A triple at 1 killed ya' DD  The gag factor should'nt be bad - He's been there & done that
Birkdale was Brutal; it’s as simple as that. But to the astonishment of all in golfdom, 53 year Old Greg Norman, more recently famous for marrying Chris Evert of tennis fame than for his golf game, stood atop the heap with just 18 more to play. And the guy who has been described as Tiger Woods, before Tiger Woods, took it all in stride. I mean he was the world #1 for nearly 400 weeks in a row but that was decades ago! Wow Greg, you picked a nice weekend for a flashback!All I know is that Sunday’s final round will be every bit as engaging as any Major Sunday I can remember. Should Norman hang on to win, it will, in my opinion, eclipse Jack Master’s win in ‘86 as the greatest victory in golf history. If for no other reason than because Norman will be 7 years older than Jack was on that magical day in Georgia. By the way, care to guess as to who finished T-2 to Jack in that event? That’s right, a 31 year old Greg Norman. Pretty coincidental don't ya' think? I believe the golf gods have picked this weekend to make right for all of the pain they have laid on Norman in major's past. If you hoist the Claret Jug come Sunday night Shark, I think you and said golf gods need be considered even…..  Don't forget Padrig - He could win 2 in a row |
