- I hate to sound like one of these sycophants who crowns Tiger Woods’ every achievement the greatest in the history of mankind, but watching him claw, fight, putt, slice and even bean his way through the first three rounds of the WGC Match Play, one cannot help but to be impressed.  Of course, equally stirring was the play of Aaron Baddeley, who managed the rather odd feat of making 10 birdies in 20 holes and losing, but then that’s really the gist of it.  Even against such a frontal assault of red numbers – and while driving the ball wildly enough to flatten one unfortunate marshal on the 13th hole – Woods just finds some very impressive ways to win.  To highlight this hardly represents any keen insight, but the 12 birdies required to defeat Baddeley’s charge (not to mention Wednesday’s stunning, putter-driven comeback against J.B. Holmes) are simply too imposing not to mention.  It’s performances like these that explain not why he’s number, but why he’s number one by a mile.

- If there’s a man remaining in the field with the talent, confidence and shear toughness to take out Woods, it may be Tiger’s remaining Jones bracket opponent K.J. Choi.  This figures to be a fascinating match, as would a potential semi-final tilt with defending champion Henrik Stenson.  But at this juncture, the match I’m really hoping for would be a final-round battle with U.S. Open champion Angel Cabrera, another quietly tough sort whose aggressive approach must surely be – as Aaron Baddely demonstrated yesterday – the most likely route to success against Woods.  Would I pick El Pato?  Well…  Lets just say it’s a matchup I’d love to see, and one which I’m not altogether certain Tiger would win.  And that’s as far as I, or any sane observer, can reasonably go…

- Watching Greg Norman play his first 10 holes of the Mayakoba Classic in four under par, I was impressed with both the variety of his shots and his ability to manage the gusty ocean breezes – hardly a shock from a two-time Open champion, but the sort of stuff one sees less and less of on today’s PGA Tour.  But clearly not battled hardened after so much time away, Norman gave all four shots back over his final eight holes, then added a five-bogey, two-double bogey 79 on Friday to miss the cut handily.  But if anyone doubts the impact he had on the event, just look at how much time the Golf Channel gave him throughout the first round.  It was borderline Tigeresque…

- Michelle Wie also found carrying her Thursday momentum into Friday a challenge, though at least her second-round 73 managed to make the cut at the Fields Open.  With eight strokes and 39 players separating her from leader Jeong Jang, victory seems unlikely.  But after her disastrous 2007, making the cut is a decent beginning...and at this point, a much-needed top 10 finish remains a viable possibility.

Friday’s Round of the Day

It would be easy to jointly select the rounds played by Tiger Woods and Aaron Baddely, but entirely off the radar screen, 25-year-old Lodewicus Theodorus “Louis” Oosthuizen racked up 10 birdies (against one bogey) en route to a course record 63 at the Country Club of Johannesburg, good enough for a five-shot lead halfway through the Telkom PGA Championship.  Talk about your tough rounds to follow up…