British Brilliance Proves There Is Life Without Tiger

Norman's Sublime Tournament, Harrington's Title Atone for Woods-less British Open

As it turns out, there is LWT in golf.

That would be Life Without Tiger. When Tiger Woods announced last month he was undergoing knee surgery that would end his 2008 season, there were, no doubt, plenty of people who thought golf might just as well shut its doors until he could play again.

Would the majors matter?

Should there be an asterisk next to the names of those who won the British Open and the PGA Championship?

Would anyone care? Would anyone watch? Why would anyone watch?

All of those hysterical questions were answered emphatically during four remarkable days at Royal Birkdale Golf Club. They were answered by Padraig Harrington and by David Duval (for a couple of days anyway); by Ian Poulter and by Greg Norman.

Yes, Greg Norman.

It has been 12 years since Greg Norman really mattered in a major championship -- in spite of ESPN repeatedly putting up a graphic that showed him finishing second in the 2006 Masters; they were only off by 10 years -- and everyone who remembers the 1996 Masters remembers the disastrous Sunday 78 that turned Norman's six shot lead into a five shot loss.

Norman is 53 and has spent more time in recent months making society columns than putts. He married Chris Evert last month in a much-ballyhooed wedding in which the couple had 20 major titles between them -- 18 belonging to Evert.

As a two-time champion, Norman was eligible for The British Open, so he decided to play, more as a warmup for this week's Senior British Open than anything else. Somehow, for three days, he walked into a time machine, playing superb golf, making putts all over the place, crushing drives and looking like the Thursday-to-Saturday Shark of 1986 when he led all four majors after 54 holes. Sadly, he was the same Greg Norman on Sunday as he so often was during his heyday, shooting 77 to finish in a third-place tie.

Even so, this particular Sunday for Norman wasn't about choking. It was about running out of gas. Even a superbly-conditioned 53-year-old is 53, and Norman admitted feeling his age in his legs during the final round.

That fatigue was quickly enhanced when Harrington began piecing together a remarkable back nine 32, pacing him to a second-straight Open Championship, this one going away.