- One round does not an 18-year-old's comeback make, but Michelle Wie likely slept well last night following her first-round 69 at the Fields Open in Hawaii.  While the score itself left her five in arrears of Jeong Jang’s smoking 64, it stands tall as a solid opener to a winter/spring season which may well come to define her golfing future.  And besides, while her three bogeys might be dismissed as the product of competitive rust, her six birdies were exciting, particularly the four posted between her 10th and 14th holes.   I’m not sure that Wie’s “detractors” were actually aiming at her last year – her family and handlers seemed the root of most of her problems – but regardless, this sort of start can only be a good thing all the way around.  Now lets see how she holds up over the final 36 holes.

- During Crosby week, I pined for a few more appearances by 53-year-old Greg Norman, and lo and behold, here he is playing in the PGA Tour’s Mayakoba Classic (on a course he designed) in Mexico.  This is noteworthy only because Norman mounted an early charge on Thursday, standing four-under-par (and well up the leaderboard) through 10 holes before two bogeys and a double brought him back to even, and a million-man tie for 40th.  Proving that those last four years make all the difference, 49-year-old Larry Mize also got to four under par, then tacked on a final birdie at the 9th (his 18th) to post a 65, good for a four-way tie for second, one back of first-round leader John Merrick.

- Briefly at the WGC Match Play:  Save for Tiger, Jonathan Byrd might be in the most impressive form, adding a 6 & 4 rout of 9th-seeded Andres Romero to his 6 & 5 dismissal of Ernie Els on Wednesday.  He next faces defending champion Henrik Stenson, winner of a marathon 25-hole Thursday match with Trevor Immelman..........Tiger Woods is set to face Aaron Baddeley, then the winner of the Paul Casey-K.J. Choi match in the remainder of the Bobby Jones bracket.  One might view the quietly tough Choi as Tiger’s strongest opponent, though as Woods’ epic first-round comeback against J.B. Holmes suggest, his primary competition at this point seems mostly to be himself..........Stuart Appleby’s 2 & 1 upset of Phil Mickelson sets up an interesting third-round match with the quietly hot Justin Leonard, a 2 & 1 Thursday winner over E Tour Order of Merit leader Lee Westwood.  The winner of Vijay Singh-Rod Pampling awaits on the other side of the Gary Player bracket..........Sam Snead bracket #1 seed Steve Stricker has been pushed to 20 holes in each of his first two victories, first by Daniel Chopra, then by Hunter Mahan.  With Mickelson and Ernie Els gone, Stricker joins Tiger Woods as the only #1 seeds still playing, but he next faces U.S. Open champion Angel Cabrera, who yesterday dismissed Luke Donald 3 & 1..........My notion of Woods, Mickelson and Els all reaching the semi-finals drifted down river with ls’ Wednesday departure, though if things fall right, a final four of Woods, Stricker, Vijay Singh and Henrik Stenson would still be pretty solid in its own right.

Thursday’s Round of the Day

Though the Ko Olina Golf Club was largely defenseless in benign conditions (e.g. nearly half the field shot par or better), Jeong Jang’s 64 was a thing of beauty, particularly because it began with her lone bogey of the day before climbing precipitously, through a run of nine birdies in her next 16 holes.  With few real “rounds” completed at the WGC Match Play, an easy choice.