The British Open Surprises

The 2008 PGA Tour has been a season that has been full of surprises, and as the British Open gets underway it is proving to be no exception to that rule.  The contest has been made more complex by the fact that front-runner Tiger Woods has been effectively removed from the competition thanks to a knee surgery to repair his torn ACL.  The noticeable lack of Tiger means that it is someone else's turn to shine.

If you were going to wager who the star of the British Open would be, you might put your money on Phil Mickelson.  You wouldn't have been alone. After all, he seemed to be one of the new heavy hitters of golf, especially after his breakout season that occurred at the 2004 Masters.  In 2005 he went on to the PGA Championship and in 2006 he was the victor at the Masters again. It seemed like Mickelson was going to give Tiger a run for his money as the supreme golf superstar.  He is known for his incredibly intellectual approach to the game, for studying courses weeks in advance, and for his lengthy practice and preparation habits.  But when it comes to actually playing the game, Mickelson seems to have lost his touch.  The British Open has showed that even though Mickelson has been committed to preparing and getting in shape, his golf game simply hasn't gotten any better.

So if Tiger and Mickelson are out of the picture, who is left?  Certainly not a name that is familiar to many golf fans. It has been 15 years since he won his last tournament.  But 53-year-old Greg Norman hasn't let that stand in his way.  With 9 holes left to play, Norman was leading the pack.  Although he wasn't the ultimate champ, he certainly made jaws drop and silenced the endless Tiger Woods discussion. Will we be seeing more of Norman in the years to come?