Tiger Woods is already leading the PGA Championship after shooting a five-under-par 67 today, and that’s good enough for me. Honestly, I don’t see the point in making a whole weekend out of these tournaments. When you have a “championship” every week, the concept seems to be diluted just a bit.

Even when Tiger wins five tournaments in a season, people flip out when he hasn’t won a major, like they’re scolding the kid that honestly forgot to brush his teeth one night. YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO DO THIS ALL THE TIME! WHAT’S WRONG WITH YOU! It’s still fascinating that the citizens of Cablinasia are (a) so disappointed whenever Tiger falters, and (b) equally overjoyed when he doesn’t. It’s the same level of joy that was felt when your dad cut ass at the dinner table. When Tiger wins, we want him to do it again, and he rarely disappoints.

But that Phil Mickelson? Well, his wife got cancer, and we still hate that asshole. For so long has Mickelson been anointed the Great White Hope that could give Tiger a challenge week after week. Not so much. But Padraig Harrington, who was rushed into defeat last week if you believe Tiger’s side of the argument, stands poised to give Woods another run. And that’s nice. Cute, really. But we know how this is going to end. So just give Tiger the PGA trophy now, his one major for the year, and then get ready for football.

Tiger Woods claimed that one of the reasons that Padraig Harrington succumbed in the Bridgestone Invitational was because of the warning from a PGA Tour official that they were playing too slowly. It’s common practice for the Tour to time each group and force them to adhere to a certain pace of play. Woods and Harrington were warned on the 16th hole by European Tour chief referee John Paramor told Wood–which is also known as being put “on the clock.” [emphasis added]:

Paramor said the final pairing was well behind most of the back nine, but officials gave them time to catch up. They were still 17 minutes out of position on the 16th tee, when they were put on the clock.

Tiger did not take kindly to the notion of being hustled through the end of the tournament:

“I don’t think that Paddy would have hit the pitch shot that way if he was able to take his time, look at it, analyze it,” Woods said. “But he was on the clock, had to get up there quickly and hit it.” via.

Most people are interpreting Woods’ remarks as a show of respect for his fellow competitor, and let’s hope that all it is. Because every scorecard from every golf course in America reads, somewhere, “Keep pace with the group ahead.” Woods and Paddy were almost two holes behind; they surely got as more of a time allowance than they deserved. Supportive or otherwise, Woods needs to do better than calling out a rules official that was just doing his job. There’s plenty of whining about officials’ rulings in other sports. You’d think Woods were getting paid by the hour, instead of by the stroke. I only pay by the stroke in the Champagne Room in Vegas. It’s cheaper.

It’s Devil Ball Golf making my day with this clip form Sport Science: Noted Irishman Padraig Harrington, he of the two major championships last year, taking a crack at a Happy Gilmore-style drive. I’ve tried this on my own plenty of times, but it’s not as much fun when one has absolutely no clue where that ball will land (kinda like any other golf swing, really). But to my credit, I have yet to be pummeled in public by Bob Barker. Or make a string of unimpressive family comedies, for that matter.

Ireland's own Padraig Harrington survived a double bogey on the 18th hole today, and then bested Sergio Garcia in a 4-hole playoff to win the British Open in Scotland.  The luck of the Irish was with Harrington as Carnoustie's 18th has destroyed lesser men (from lesser nations) such as Jean Van de Velde from France. Harrington also benefited from Garcia's tee-shot striking the base of the pin and rolling 18 feet away on the 2nd playoff hole.  Garcia, who led the tournament by 3 shots going into the final round, handled the misfortune with his usual aplomb:

"To tell you the truth, I don't feel like I did anything wrong," said Garcia, who closed with a 73 and was 1 over in the playoff. "I really didn't miss a shot in the playoff. I hit unbelievable putts. They just didn't go in . . . I should write a book on how not to miss a shot and not win a playoff."

Suggested titles for that book: Nuremberg Golf: Don't Blame Yourself, Great Putts That Miss: When the Green is Culpable, or Sour Grapes: The Sergio Garcia Story. -KD