Ernie!

1. What is it with Frenchmen at The Open Championship. Thomas Levet was one-up going to the fourth and final play-off hole and he takes out the driver? I thought Curtis Strange was going to have a stroke. Of course he jerks it into the bunker, has to come out sideways, scrapes his third shot onto the green and misses the 40-odd footer. Bogey. All he had to do was hit 2-iron, 3-iron and he's around the front of the green (if not on the front of the green) in two. But noooooooooooooooooo!. Gimme the driver there Jacques! It must be the Gitanes.

2. What is up with (New York Times golf reporter) Clifton Brown's front page dispatch on Sunday? The fact that Tiger Woods shot a very bad round (81, 10-over) on Saturday sent Brown into a metaphor frenzy (Woods was "like a piano falling down the stairs") that seemed almost gleeful about Tiger's misfortune.

3. Hats off to Tiger for his great Sunday round. He never quit and almost made it back into red numbers.

4. Hats off to Ernie Els, whose Saturday round (+1, in the midst of a monsoon) was astonishing. Els is the only golfer out there who can compete at Tiger's level. It's good to have him back in the winner's circle.