Round of Golf

Lots and lots of interesting developments over the weekend in the world of golf. A quick recap, in no particular order of importance.

1. Congratulations to Padraig Harrington for winning his second consecutive British Open at Royal Birkdale this weekend. Harrington shot a final round 1 under par 69 to win by 4 shots over Englishman Ian Poulter. Poulter's hair finished a distant 30th.

1a. A stunning 5th place finish for English amateur Chris Wood, with a composite 10 over par. It nevertheless must have been a bit disappointing as he finished only a single stroke from automatically qualifying for the 2009 Masters. It was the best finish by an amateur since Justin Rose burst onto the scene with his (tied for) 4th place finish in 1998.

1b. A dramatic comeback for Ernie Els, who missed a gimme on 18 on Friday that put him one shot out of the cut. However, the rest of the field came back to Els allowing him to survive through the weekend. His 74/69 finish left him in a tie for 7th.

1c. Jim Furyk was the highest finishing American in a tie for 5th place, leading Steve Stricker, Anthony Kim and Ben Curtis to top 10 finishes.

1d. Greg Norman shot a 7 over 77 to finish in a tie for 3rd with Sweden's Henrik Stenson. Although Norman was a great story at age 53, his finish was typical, as he has now led 8 times after 3 rounds in major events, with only one title to his credit.

2. Over on the LPGA Tour at the State Farm Classic at Panther Creek Country Club in Springfield, Illinois, Ji Young Oh was victorious, but not the story. Michelle Wie was disqualified after failing to sign her scorecard following the second round. However, the story is interesting due to the fact that she wasn't disqualified until after she completed the third round, and was in second place at 17 under par. (Oh and Yani Tseng finished tied for first at 18 under par). Apparently Wie left the scoring tent without signing her score card. A rules official noticed the missing signature and ran out of the tent to catch up to Wie, who then signed the card. On Saturday this was deemed improper, and Wie was disqualified for violation of Rule 6-6b and Decision 6-6c/1. It is unfortunate for Wie since she was playing so well, and likely would have earned enough money for her tour card for 2009, if not actually win outright.

3. On the PGA Tour, the men played the U.S. Bank Championship, which was won by Richard S. Johnson. Yes ladies and gentlemen, Dick Johnson was victorious.

OPENing Salvo

For those who regularly read We Make It Rain, you know that we are tremendous fans of all types of athletic competition, and that definitely includes golf. As you should know, one of the four majors, The British Open, or as the British like to call it "The Open Championship", began yesterday at Royal Birkdale in Southport, England. Even though the tourney is without its most glamorous star, Eldrick, the tournament is lining up to be a spectacular event.

The first round ended with a three way tie at 1 under 69. The only three players to shoot in the red on Thursday were Australia's Robert Allenby, Northern Ireland's Graeme McDowell, of the Queens McDowells, and America's (now) favorite son, Rocco Mediate.

Everybody knows about Rocco and his near victory at the U.S. Open, losing to Eldrick by 1 shot after playing 91 holes. However, Rocco and his fun-loving personality should have been fan favorites well before this year. Now, I may be a little biased toward Rocco because, well his name, but also because Racecar's father tells great stories about Rocco from Mediate's time in Jacksonville. In addition, I witnessed what I thought was a great act by Rocco back in the day.

During the 2001 U.S. Open at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma, I had the opportunity to attend the second and third rounds via my friend Alex, who happens to live in Tulsa and who also happened to commandeer some tickets (for free even - yeah Alex). We walked the course with a couple of groups in the second round to get a feel for the course, and let me tell you, just walking the course was exhausting. The elevation changes were so much more dramatic than you can ever envision from television.

For the third round, we decided to get to the course early and snag a seat behind the 13th green. We chose this spot because it had great views of both the 13th and 15th greens, but also because the 13th hole was the only hole in which every player had a legitimate shot at birdie, and most could entertain thougths of an eagle.

So, about halfway through the afternoon, short driving Mediate's group is in the fairway, and he looks like he is sitting pretty good. He takes a fairway metal and is going to try to hit the green in two. And boy does he ever. The ball lands on the green hot, hops through the green and hits a kid in the chest. Lucky for Rocco, the kid stopped his ball, which most likely would have ended up in the grandstand. Rocco pitches and putts for a birdie. As he and his playing partner exit the green to move toward the 14th tee, Mediate walks straight towards the kid, signs his ball and gives it to the kid. I always liked this gesture by Rocco, and have since followed his career, rooting for him and hoping that he does well.

Now, I understand that this is one of the unwritten rules of golf and that many players may have done the same thing, but I always find it amazing how many people either (1) don't know the unwritten rules of courtesy; or (2) just don't care about being courteous.

Mediate shot a 3 over 73 today, and is now in a tie for third at +2. The winner in that 2001 U.S. Open was Retief Goosen, who midway through the second round is also tied for third at +2.

Now, back to the first round. A Brit is tied for first. I don't know if McDowell and his Golden Arc of a swing can stand up to the pressure of trying to be only the third Brit since 1964 to win the Open, and the first since Scotsman Paul Lawrie in 1999, but it certainly makes for a very interesting tournament. He has shot a second round 3 over 73 as well, and is currently tied for third at +2.

The story right now is Greg Norman, who after two consecutive rounds at even par is in the lead. Before I comment on Norman, let's see if he is still in the neighborhood on Sunday.

Although Mediate, Norman, McDowell, Englishman Ian Poulter or any of a number of players would make for a great story, I myself would love to see Camillo Villegas win. He has a lot of flair and attitude on the course, and it comes through in his game and his wardrobe. Yesterday he shot a 6 over 76, then started today bogey-bogey, before closing with 5 consecutive birdies for a 5 under 65, one shot behind Norman. The only problem with Villegas is that he is a Florida Gator, and after their run in football and basketball the last few years, Gator fans don't need anything else to cheer, believe me.

However, sometimes the volatile (players and scores) are too erratic to win a major golf championship in weather conditions like those at Royal Birkdale. It is often slow and steady that wins the race. My pick is Jim Furyk, who after two consecutive 71s, is tied for third at +2.