SportsFullCircle

Greg Norman is sitting at even par after two rounds of the British Open, and sits in second place, outright. This sounds like a statement from the early 90s, but the Shark is somehow in contention at the British Open. Then again, so is David Duval who almost disappeared from the face of the earth a few years back.

Considering the oddities that have gone on, I think it is safe to project that a fully healthy Tiger Woods would have a comfortable lead right now. K.J. Choi is the leader after 2 rounds at 1 under par (just a bit of random information, he uses a special thick putting grip called the Super Stroke which allows ur rest to stay stabilized while putting. I know about this because my father purchased one. K.J. Choi’s putting has been much better since using this grip by the way).

In a Tigerless tournament, however, we find ourselves with a scrambled, unexpected leaderboard that features only one person (Choi) under par. The conditions have been bad, and some of golf’s biggest names have been worse. Some of the notable players cut include Stewart Cink, Mark O’Meara, Geoff Ogilvy, Vijay Singh, and of course the lovable John Daly. Lefty isn’t in it, and neither is Ernie Els.

What we have is one of the weirdest golf majors in recent memory.

The relentless Rocco Mediate is in the hunt at +2, as well as Jim Furyk among others. Greg Norman should be on the senior tour, but is in the hunt for another major. There are many players who have had mental lapses in the past, who have shown their true colors and are not even in contention without Tiger there (Phil Mickelson, ahem). Then again, other players who have shown mental weakness in the past such as Greg Norman are now near the top of the leaderboard.

The difference though, is that Norman has wilted to courses, while Mickelson, for example, has wilted to courses, dumb decisions, and most importantly Tiger Woods.

Something tells me Norman will be in this until the end, along with Choi, Duval, and Furyk. I don’t see Mickelson contending in any majors until he can prove he can play both when Tiger is and isn’t there.