- Tiger May Have A Temper, But…:  …He’s entirely correct when it comes to photographers taking pictures during his swing.  Granted, he’d probably serve himself (not to mention the PGA Tour) better if he didn’t audibly threaten the offending parties with bodily harm, but the guidelines are clear for working press, and snapping pictures prior to a player reaching the point of impact is strictly verboten.  The photographers all know this, yet the problem (occasionally) persists.  Itchy trigger fingers?  No good.  If a player isn’t good enough at doing his job, he loses his playing privileges – so it’s entirely reasonable to hold photographers to a comparable standard.  The players, after all, are competing under the highest levels of pressure, for massive amounts of money.  Their task is difficult enough without having it complicated by anyone too arrogant or incompetent to avoid getting in the way.

- It Takes All Kinds:  It is certainly an interesting leaderboard after one round of the E Tour’s Open de Andalucia, where the name at the top – world number 20 Lee Westwood – is familiar enough, but then things become a bit more...eclectic.  Two of the next three are players who I’ve actually never heard of: Norway’s Jan-Are Larsen (ranked 487th in the world) and Australia’s Matthew Millar (ranked an eerily similar 488th), while in between them lies the world’s number one-ranked amateur (according to the R&A), 20-year-old Danny Willett of England.  In joint 5th place we find 5’2” Emanuele Canonica of Italy (pound for pound, likely the longest hitter in the history of the game) plus three solid journeyman, Christian Cevaer of France, Maarten Lafeber of the Netherlands and Damien McGrane of Ireland.  And just for good measure, also part of that 5th-place logjam is Rory McIlroy, Northern Ireland’s 18-year-old phenom and the only player in the field younger than Willetts.  Considering that Westwood continues in good form (not to mention that he’s won 18 E Tour events, compared to three by the other seven men combined), you’d have to like his chances this week...but it’s still very early.

- A Language Problem?:  As alluded to in Tuesday’s Week Ahead preview, there seems a bit of confusion regarding the name of the host club for this week’s Zambian Open – sort of embarrassing given that the club is actually a title sponsor.  I went with “Chainama Hills Zambia Open,” and I’m pretty certain that’s right – but even as we speak, both “Chainama” and “Chinama” appear on the front page of the Sunshine Tour’s website.  Geez, you’d think that if they can correctly spell names like Ignatius Mketekete and Lindani Ndwandhe on a regular basis, Chainama (Chinama?) would be a snap.

- Quotable: ""The greatest God-given talent in history. If everyone in the world was playing their best, Sandy would win and I'd come second." - Seve Ballesteros on Sandy Lyle.

- Mr. Gone:  I keep rooting for David Duval, keep tracking his performances, keep hoping that he will somehow re-engage the game with the sort of focus necessary to mount a return to the realm of relevance...but it’s getting tougher to keep the faith.  The puzzling thing is that I don’t believe his struggles are rooted in anything physical.  I back this statement up by noting that I followed him for nine holes at Riviera in 2006 (when he was much closer to his nadir than he is today) and was still highly impressed with his ball-striking.  Indeed, watching him crush a 3 iron through the back of the fourth green – that’s nearly 250 yards, into a steady afternoon breeze, with Ernie Els having barely reached the front edge with a 3 iron of his own – left my mouth agape.  I can only conclude, then, that Duval is simply too happy at home with his wife and kids (and perhaps his snowboard) to ratchet up his mental game to the standard necessary to seriously compete out there – and while it may go against the grain of our modern societal ethic, if that’s truly the case, then god bless him.  But if you saw that 3 iron at Riviera, you’d still be checking his scores daily, half-expecting a re-awakening too.  The talent, I am certain, still resides there.

Thursday’s Co-Rounds of the Day

Duval’s opening 77 at New Orleans would make for a nice segue here, but more impressive must be the six-under-par 66 carded in Spain by 20-year-old amateur Danny Willetts.  Playing for the first time on the E Tour, Willetts carded four birdies, two eagles and two bogeys during his stroll around the Aloha Golf Club, and it will be interesting indeed to see what he can do for an encore.  Equally impressive (at least) was the 10-under-par, bogey-free 62 turned in by Angela Stanford at the Safeway International in Arizona, a sensational round which saw Stanford go out in 30, then birdie four of her final six coming home.  All that and she only leads Lorena Ochoa by three...