The Open

Sheesh. We're watching some tremendous golf from Pádraig Harrington - he just made an eagle on 17 for a four-shot lead - the announcers suddenly start going on about how "these conditions would have been right up Tiger's alley". Fortunately, after a few moments, one of them recollected himself and said, "But there won't be an asterisk beside anybody's name." No kidding. It still frakking counts, even if Tiger isn't here.

Few of the announcers can deal with Pádraig, either - not the golfer, the name. They all get the vowels right (I haven't heard Patrick) but the consonants defeat most of them. I've heard Pahrick, Pahtrick, Pahdrick, Pahrig, Pahdrig, Pahdrig... Pahrig is the northern pronunciation, and Pahdrig the southern, Munster. Harrington's from Dublin; he seems to say Pahdrig with the D very soft. But the Irish don't devoice as the Scots do in their Gaelic language (Irish and (Scots) Gaelic are very different, like English and Dutch), so it's never Pahtrick.

But Harrington played tremendous golf today and Norman's three-bogey start doomed him to a third-place finish, tied with KJ Choi and Henrik Stenson behind Harrington and Poulter. Not that third in the Open is a poke in the eye, of course, especially for a guy no one picked to make the cut. But for Norman, it is one more Sunday lead lost ... though he didn't blow it, he just was outplayed.

Harrington of course won last year at Carnoustie in a playoff with Sergio. The Irishman can play some golf.