- Answering The Bell:  I’ve always believed that a valid way to measure the great vs. the near-great is a player’s ability to lift their performance level for Major championships – or, theoretically, any other events which he or she considers particularly important.  And while one round a victory does not make, we must be impressed with Lorena Ochoa’s start at one of the more hyped non-Majors in recent history, the HSBC Women’s Champions.  Teeing off in a 10:20 pairing for the ages (Ochoa, Annika Sorenstam and Karrie Webb), Ochoa opened with a birdie, then proceeded to tack on five more to card a bogey-free, six-under par 66, enough to lead the tournament by one, and to better Webb by three and Sorenstam by five.  There is, to be sure, much golf left to be played this week, but Ochoa, who skipped the LPGA’s opening two events in Hawaii, clearly has arrived in 2008 with her eye squarely on the ball.

PowerHouse Update

Lost in the shuffle of Louis Oosthuizen’s record Sunshine Tour performance at last week’s Telkom PGA Championship was the curious withdrawal of the PowerHouse, who fired a fine opening round 70 but “retired” prior to starting play on Friday.  If the WD was due to injury, it could not have been a major one; carding seven birdies and two bogeys en route to a five-under-par 67, our boy was tri-medalist in Tuesday’s qualifier for this week’s Mount Edgecombe Trophy.  Exhaustive internet searches could not produce a reason for his unfortunate Telkom departure.

- Going, Going... :  As a former Major champion, John Daly can accept an unlimited number of sponsor exemptions into PGA Tour events, a convenient state of affairs given that he would not currently be eligible to play in most events any other way.  That Daly is still considered a draw is obvious enough.  Tournament Directors continue to invite him to their events with such regularity that he seems to get more starts than many players (e.g. Nationwide Tour and Q School graduates) who are otherwise prioritized well above him in the Tour qualification hierarchy.  Is it worth it?  There isn’t any way to accurately measure whether Daly has an appreciable effect at the gate – my own guess is that he might, a little, at Quad Cities, but is irrelevant in L.A. – but that’s only the first question raised by a visit from Long John.  Another might be whether he’ll even stick around long enough for the sponsor to benefit from his presence, as Daly withdrew from seven of the 22 events he entered between the 2007 Honda Classic and the 2008 Bob Hope, a percentage likely unmatched (if even approached) in the modern era.    And then there’s the small matter of whether or not Daly will sue the PGA National Golf Club, site of last year’s Honda Classic, where he began this serial disappearing act after suffering a rib injury, allegedly caused by a spectator wrongly taking his picture.  Initially, Daly suggested he might sue the tournament.  Then, perhaps recognizing that suing an event whose proceeds go to a children’s charity wouldn’t do much to enhance his image, he shifted gears, suggesting instead that he would sue the host golf course.  Small problem: At all Tour events with which I’m familiar, the host club is not responsible for security issues, the sponsoring organization (which rents the facility and essentially bonds the club against any event-oriented legal problems) is.  Butch Harmon, I’ll assume, figures that he has nothing to lose by taking on Daly as a pupil.  If he returns to form and starts winning, Harmon is a genius; if he flounders, everyone just assumes he was an incorrigible nut job to begin with and Harmon emerges unscathed.  Why Tournament Directors keep taking a chance on Daly, however, is an increasingly puzzling question.

Thursday’s Round of the Day

Lorena Ochoa, easily.  Luke Donald’s Honda Classic-leading 64 was worth a look, but the place and timing of Ochoa’s 66 – in a pairing with Sorenstam and Webb, in her first round of what many believe will be an epic season of combat with Annika – easily gives the world number one the edge.

- Overnight UPDATE:  The showdown in Singapore is beginning to look like a rout, as Lorena Ochoa uncorked a near-flawless 65 on Friday to gallop out to a seven-shot lead at the halfway mark of the HSBC Champions.  Annika Sorenstam tried gamely to keep pace with a 67, leaving her at 138, tied with In-Kyung Kim and Paula Creamer for 2nd.  A long weekend's golf remains...but to Sorenstam, Kim and Creamer, those seven shots likely look like 70...