Edel Putters

Greg and Michelle

Image by Getty Images via DaylifeGreg Norman is poised on the brink of an historic victory at the British Open and at the opposite end of the golf spectrum Michelle Wie was disqualified for not signing her scorecard. What do these things have in common? Neither one of them is supposed to happen.

Greg's appearance at the Open Championship was intended to be a warm up for next week's Senior British Open. A casual stroll around the links attended by his new wife Chris Evert. I'm sure that Greg would not have been too disappointed to miss the cut. Instead he finds himself on top of the leaderboard with a 2 shot lead over KJ Choi and the defending champion, Padraig Harrington.

Whatever happens tomorrow and I sincerely hope that Greg wins, this has been an amazing tournament. Greg is the oldest man to have the 54 hole lead and the way that he is playing, one would have to be foolish to bet against him.

At the other extreme is Michelle Wie. I have often been critical of her performance and behavior but I was genuinely happy to see her in contention after two rounds and a third round 66 put her one shot behind teenage phenom Yani Tseng until the news broke that she had been disqualified for failing to sign her second round scorecard. Michelle said that she'll use this as a learning experience which might be believable had she not used the same excuse when she forgot to sign her card in her LPGA debut. Apparently she didn't learn from it.

To see such a talent going to waste is anathema. Michelle is obviously book smart - they don't let dummies into Stanford - but she's not exhibiting much good common sense. Women's golf needs good role models but right now Michelle Wie is about as good a role model as John Daly.

Cut Kenny Some Slack

Image by Getty Images via DaylifeWhat's the deal with all of the criticism of Kenny Perry? He decided to skip the British Open because he is the defending champion at next week's Tour event.
Apparently loyalty is not prized very much by some people and in any case, who's business is it where Kenny plays?
Kenny Perry is one of golf's gentlemen and it's a recognized tradition that the defending champion does not skip out on a title defense unless there are extenuating circumstances.
What next? Will we hear criticism of Tiger for not defending at the PGA Championship? He won the US Open on one leg, can't he defend the PGA on crutches, or better yet from a wheelchair? What kind of wimp is he anyway?
So give Kenny Perry a break, he's showing some integrity and doing the right thing and you know you'll be rooting for him in the Ryder Cup later this year.