Mr. Evert gunning for Open title!?!

Tiger what?

Yeah, no Tiger means a major championship devoid of drama. All we have after two days of the British Open is a 53-year-old part-timer one shot off the lead and another former British Open champ who all but fell off the face of the planet resurrecting his career. Man, I’d love to be scriptwriter for the PGA.

Greg Norman had back-to-back rounds of 70. Not to be outdone, Mr. 59 David Duval is tied for fourth with rounds of 73-69. In terms of unlikelihoods, these two in contention on the weekend, is as far-fetched as seeing a 170-pound born-again John Daly. Norman’s tournament is probably most remarkable considering his focus on his business ventures and recent marriage to Chris Evert have kept him off the course for long stretches. You can bet, though, that if he’s in the hunt on Sunday, TV ratings will be through the roof.

Duval at least has been playing this year, albeit not very well.

A couple of other notables near the top of the leaderboard to keep an eye on: Defending champ Padraig Harrington, who nearly withdrew with an injury, is tied with Duval at 2-over. Also at 2-over US Open runner-up Rocco Mediate and former US Open champ Jim Furyk. At 4-over, 5 shots behind KJ Choi, is famed cheese-eater Jean Van de Velde and Adam Scott, with Sergio Garcia lurking at 5-over. Still alive at 9-over, my pick Ernie Els.

Gonna be an exciting weekend at Royal Birkdale.

~ by Porky on July 19, 2008.