THE ONE GOOD THING ABOUT TIGER BEING HURT...:

Tiger Woods is out of sight, but not out of mind at British Open (Christopher Clarey, July 16, 2008, IHT)

Tiger Woods is home in Florida with a postoperative left knee, coping with the disorienting fact that for the first time in nearly 12 years, he will miss a major championship and that is not expected back until next season.

"It would be interesting to see how he would play the course this year, wouldn't it?" asked Cooney, 34, who followed Woods when he won the Open at St. Andrews in 2005.

"Personally, I don't think the event is devalued without him here," Omara said. "The course is hard enough as it is, so whoever wins will deserve it. But you can bet that no matter who wins, Tiger's name will get brought up afterward. So it will be devalued in that sense."

Actually, there is no need to wait until after the victor's Claret Jug is awarded. Even in absentia, Woods remains the talk of the tournament, with nearly every interview session featuring at least one, and usually several, queries about the meaning of life after Woods.

"I just hope they taught the engraver how to put an asterisk on the trophy," cracked Geoff Ogilvy, the talented, agile-minded Australian, who is ranked third in the world. "Then everyone will know what the tournament was all about."

...is that for our contest we can just have you pick the winner of the tournament.

Since the website was down for a while yesterday and overnight we'll accept picks up until noon Thursday.

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Posted by Orrin Judd at July 17, 2008 12:00 PM