Harrington +3

I must admit that the British Open is one of my least favorite events of the sports calendar. Its all about the weather, a test of endurance rather than skill. That's fine for a triathlon or spring football but I want to see the best of the best duking it out someplace civilized--is that too much to ask? (It reminds me of the early days of the MLS when they insisted on holding their championships in Foxboro just before Thanksgiving, a real sexy time of year in the northeast) This year was no exception, from the beginning it was wreaking havoc on the leaderboard--Rich Beem straight up split!

This was all to the advantage--surprisingly enough--to the newly married Greg Norman. The Shark navigated the winds like a master seaman and came out in the lead after 3 rounds. He came out on Sunday with his bogey stick and fell behind quickly. But nobody played well enough to really make a difference, except Ian Poulter who came out of nowhere to finish a distant 2nd (reminiscent of Retief Goosen in his post-prime). I failed to make a prediction but I would've chosen KJ Choi (for my money the best golfer to not win a major--if that's a good thing!), who was lingering near the top until fading badly on Sunday.

Paddy Harrington played well enough to win on a tough day on the links. I dug the ballsy shots he took down the stretch. The hubris that felled Van de Velde and flummoxed Mickelson came shining through for Paddy. He nailed the approached on 17--a tough, tough shot--and that was ballgame. Another nice approach on 18 to tack on style points and he takes home another jug. He's only the 5th repeat champ in the last 80 years or so. Nice work.