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Peter Thomson is Australia's first great golfer. He turns 80 on Sunday, and in a wide-ranging sit-down with the London Telegraph, the five-time British Open champion weighs in on the state of today's game.

Specifically, how the face of golf, Tiger Woods, could stand to loosen up.

The Telegraph writes that Thomson "has impeccable manners and he demands the same standards of others." And, apparently, that includes Woods, the sport's unofficial ambassador.

The list of players, both young and old, who would challenge Tiger Woods is a lengthy one. Thirteen years after Woods turned pro, we're still waiting.

Phil Mickelson has always been in the conversation, but names like Charles Howell and David Gossett were gone faster than they came. Sergio Garcia was the clear choice in the late '90s and early '00s, but 10 years after bursting on the scene at the '99 PGA Championship as a 19-year-old phenom, he's still searching for his first major victory. Real life sidetracked David Duval, also a legit threat to Tiger's legacy around the time of Garcia's emergence.

And now, Camilo Villegas, Anthony Kim and Andreas Romero are often mentioned as likely candidates to unseat the world's best player.

Tiger Woods led the first three days of the PGA Championship and halfway through the fourth. And then Y.E. Yang happened. But Yang's victory was so unexpected, so sudden, so ... not according to script, that by the time the reality of what happened washed over jaw-agaped onlookers it was too late.

In terms of ratings, anyway.

Tiger Woods, Padraig Harrington and Rich Beem have seven Wanamaker Trophy among them. They're playing together the first two days of the 91st PGA Championship, and midway through the first round, Tiger is alone in first place after a 5-under, 67, Paddy trails by one, and Beemer is tied for 13th at 1-under.

Apart from Woods, who is the story whenever he tees it up, Harrington arrived at Hazeltine after a demoralizing loss at last week's WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. But any doubts about his mental state were quickly erased on the front nine Thursday.

Paddy went out in 34 strokes, matching Tiger shot for shot (as did Beem, who won the PGA Championship the last time it was at Hazeltine in 2002, but hasn't done much in the seven years since). On the back, Woods separated himself, needing only 33 strokes to get to the clubhouse. Harrington was steady and efficient, shooting a 34 on the way in, and Beem, save a double-bogey on No. 3 (his 12th hole), looked like he belonged, carding a 36.

The PGA Championship begins Thursday, and as has been the case in the three previous majors this year, Tiger Woods is the clear favorite. Despite victories in consecutive weeks leading up to this event, the story is as much about the level of his play as it is about how he won at Firestone Sunday.

The circumstances have been well documented, but for the unenlightened, the Cliffs Notes version: Padraig Harrington led the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational by one stroke over Tiger as they made their way to the 16th tee. At some point on the hole the group was put on the clock for slow play, Paddy went on to record an eight on the par 5, Woods carded a birdie, and two holes later he was hoisting the trophy.

UPDATE: Tuesday, Aug. 11, 1:45 PM ET -- Tiger Woods just told the media that he wasn't fined for his post-round comments, calling it "an erroneous report."

A brief timeline for those of you who haven't been closely monitoring the last 26 hours or so of Tiger Woods' life: at approximately 5:40 PM ET Sunday, Tiger and Padraig Harrington, playing in the last group at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, approached the 16th tee. Paddy led by one shot at the time.

A few excruciating minutes later, Harrington had carded a snowman, Woods a birdie, and the two had swapped places on the leaderboard. For good. About a half-hour after that, Woods spoke with the media and very politely blasted rules official John Paramor for putting the group on the clock as they played the 16th hole.

In a surprising development, television ratings for the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational were up 104 percent from a year ago. Apparently, viewers really love them some Padraig Harrington (through 69 holes, anyway). Or, since nobody tuned into the final two majors of 2008 (Harrington won them both), maybe this Tiger Woods fellow has something to do with it.

At this point, Tiger and ratings go hand in hand, and the networks who carry the big tournaments bank on the world's best player being in contention on Sunday for that very reason.

Tiger Woods won the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational for the seventh time in his career on Sunday. It was also his fifth win this season, and his 70th win on the PGA Tour. But this may have been the first time in his life that he called out a rules official during his post-victory comments to the media.

Playing in the final group with Padraig Harrington, and trailing the Irishman by a stroke through 15 holes, the pair was put on the clock by rules official John Paramor.

In golfing terms, "to be put on the clock" is equivalent to a verbal warning from a high school hall monitor. To carry the metaphor further, consider Macbeth:

Perhaps I shouldn't have doubted CBS when they flashed this statistic early in Sunday's coverage:

Final Round Scoring Avg
Tiger Woods: 68.7 (1st on tour)
Padraig Harrington: 71.7 (150th)

And if you cut out all the mid-round drama, that's basically how it played out. Woods won for the 70th time on the PGA Tour (and the seventh time at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational). And for the first time all year Harrington showed glimpses of why he was so successful in 2008. So, Padraig, here's your silver lining: congrats on your first top-10 finish of the season.

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Tiger Woods continues to miss fairways like it's part of some grand plan, but at some point -- if not this week, then next -- it's going to catch up with him. The World No. 1 was able to overpower a watered-down field and a forgiving golf course last week at the Buick Open, but Firestone Country Club, site of the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational is a much sterner test.