11th Heaven

Hello. Congratulations to Tiger Woods for his 11th major victory at the British Open. When thinking of one word to describe Woods' performance, "clinical" comes to mind. He surgically disected the course. And he managed to turn off the emotions that came gushing out after his victory. That he was able to do either was incredible, let alone both. And then to gather himself and talk about his father at the closing ceremonies was remarkable.
Because Tiger was far beyond good, he will be excluded from my lists below:

Good

1. Chris DiMarco. 3 weeks after losing his mother suddenly, DiMarco was the only one to give Tiger a challenge Sunday. Unfortunately a bogey on the 1st hole gave Tiger more of a cushion that DiMarco couldn't quite overcome. Chris is guts personified, and according to one of my sisters-in-law, a "cutie". Quite the combination. He's now been a 3-time major runner-up, and the only one who seems to really want to break through.
2. Andres Romano. The young Argentine was under par every day, finishing -9 and tied for 8th. Well done.
3. Hideto Tanihara. Japanese star put himself on the map shooting -11, finishing tied for 5th.
4. Jim Furyk. Only one of the US Open runners-up to distinguish himself finishing 4th and snapping a 5-consecutive-missed-Open-cuts string.

Bad

1. Sergio Garcia. Since the 1999 PGA, Sergio hasn't finished better than 5th in a major, even if he starts just off the lead like Sunday. One of only 3 players in the top 15 to shoot over par Sunday. More tomorrow about him.
2. Ernie Els. After rising to Friday's challenge by Woods of matching his 65 to be one off the lead and two shots clear of 3rd place, Els shot 71-71 on the weekend.
3. Retief Goosen. Came in with little confidence, got in position on Friday, then shot 72-73 on the weekend.
4. Mike Weir. After shooting 68 the first day (and making me think I know something about predicting), he's +5 for the remaining 54 holes, finishing tied for 56th with David Duval. Back to the drawing board.

Ugly

1. John Daly. -2 after 35 holes, could bogey the par 5 18th and still make the cut. Hits his drive and 4th shot OB. Hope he enjoyed the legendary Cavern in Liverpool.
2. US Ryder Cup points. Apparently John Rollins got more points for wining the BC Open than DiMarco got for finishing 2nd in the Open. That sound you heard was me falling off my chair.
3. The 2007 Canadian Open. It will be played this week next year. Do you think anyone will come besides Vijay Singh? Neither do I.
4. The 2006 Canadian Open. Still no main sponsor, with <>

Regards,

Steve