FanHouse TomLehman

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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A year ago, Greg Norman finished third at the British Open after leading the tournament through 54 holes. He then earned a top-5 finish at the Senior British Open the following week.

His out-of-nowhere showing at Royal Birkdale was enough for the PGA Championship to extend him an invitation. Partly because of his performance in Europe, but also because Tiger Woods was rehabbing a bum knee and Norman could help counter floundering television ratings.

He ultimately declined, Padraig Harrington went on to win his second major in as many months, and ratings were predictably awful.

I suspect the irony wasn't lost on Jack, but arguably the world's best golfer (for the time being, anyway) arrived at the British Open on his private jet, and then proceeded to wax nostalgic about the days when golf was a way for the lucky few to make a hard-earned living.

In speaking of the impressive first-round performances of Greg Norman, Tom Watson and Tom Lehman, Nicklaus offered this:

"If they don't win, they still walk home with a big check ... They don't have to do some of the things the Watsons had to do, the Normans, the Lehmans, and that's to gut it out. It doesn't mean the young guys will be out of it. It just makes it appear as though the guys who have had that experience are coming to the top."

"When I started on tour, maybe one or two guys might have made enough money to make a living ... Now there's a couple of hundred guys who make a living playing golf. We had to really play well and scratch it out to be in a position to get endorsements. But we worked to try to build the tour so they didn't have to do that."

And the golfing world thanks you, Jack. But more than Nicklaus, Palmer and Player doing their parts to make the tour what it is, Jack is more concerned that today's player is, well, soft.

Notes from on site at the Shell Houston Open:

Where are you likely to find a lot of people with heart disease? A PGA Tour event is likely a good place. Or maybe you peoples out there, just sitting there like a blob, reading about sports and licking your Cheese Doodled-stained fingers.

So Merck partnered up with PGA great Tom Lehman and asked him to be their spokesman for a heart disease educational program. He wants people to learn more about their cholesterol numbers, what they mean, and things they can do to prevent heart disease. On Thursday, he was signing autographs at the Shell Houston Open and giving away educational information. I asked him to say a few words in a video to you about why he cares about heart disease education.

You can find more detailed information at triplethreatchallenge.com. (autoplay audio in link). Some people may not like drug companies using sports figures to educate people about diseases, but if folks are more likely to listen to their favorite athlete over their doctor, I'm okay with whatever works.

The Masters is officially underway -- and Phil Mickelson is another three put away from ruining any chances he had at repeating as champion -- but there are some noticeable omissions from this year's field.

John Daly, who lost his PGA Tour card last year (really? how did I miss that?) and has been playing on sponsor's exemptions in 2007 isn't in the field this week. But that doesn't mean he's not in town. In fact, he's right down Washington road ... at the neighborhood Hooters. Come on, admit it, you're not even shocked to read that (I know I'm not). Apparently, he's signing autographs ... for what, though, I'm not quite certain.

Also missing this week is former British Open champion David Duval, who showed up at the season-opening Mercedes Championship in 2000 in the best shape of his life, fell off the wagon a few years later and his game has never been the same. I'm not suggesting packing on the pounds was responsible for the precipitous fall in the world rankings -- after all, he shot a 59 in the late '90s while looking a little Mickelson's chubby younger brother. But he admits his new family has given him a different life perspective, one that doesn't feature his golf career. Good for Duval, though I miss watching him play. Seven years ago, he was probably the golfer best equipped to challenge Tiger.