- Rebounding…With A Vengeance:  Yes, my exact words were “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.”  That prediction wasn’t looking too swift after Lee Westwood’s Friday 73 at the Open de Andalucia, but the defending champion bailed me out nicely on Saturday, hurling himself right back into the fray by birdieing the first five holes (!) en route to a six-under-par 66 and a one-stroke 54-hole lead.  The remainder of the top 10 breaks down neatly along national lines, with Westwood being immediately trailed by two fellow Englishmen (Oliver Fisher and David Lynn) as well as Frenchman-living-in-England Thomas Levet.  The next five spots are occupied by the Swedish contingent (second round leader Peter Hedblom, Pelle Edberg, Michael Jonzon, Alexander Noren and Patrick Sjoland), while the 10th spot belongs to Australian Matthew Millar (who is at least beginning to sound familiar).  The world’s top-ranked amateur, England’s Danny Willetts, who opened with a dazzling Thursday 66, pretty well held his ground (T28) with an even-par 72 for 213, while 18-year-old professional Rory McIlroy stands one better, on 212.

- Beyond Hope:  Running a PGA Tour event is not the simplest of jobs, and it’s a fairly good bet that those inclined to criticize have little concept of the sheer amount of planning, procuring, trouble-shooting and good old-fashioned legwork involved in bringing a multi-million dollar tournament to fruition.  But having offered up that fundamental caveat, one seriously has to wonder if there is much of a future for Palm Springs’ long-running Bob Hope Desert/Chrysler Classic.  The committee which steers the Hope is occasionally criticized for being, shall we say, a bit behind the times, and their largely unexplained decision to axe two-year tournament host George Lopez (which gave them at least some entrée into the much-coveted younger demographic) might appear to back such assertions up.  Arnold Palmer will come aboard for a one-off hosting of next year’s 50th anniversary edition, but aside from giving the committee a nostalgia rush (and perhaps generating a bit more business for Palmer’s La Quinta restaurant), it’s hard to see how terminating the popular and committed Lopez in favor of this one-time visit from Palmer advances the cause.  And then there is the issue of the host golf course.  Several years back, the committee opted to build their own, a potentially foresighted move in that it figured to remove issues of site fees, capricious club memberships, year-round accessibility, etc. from an already complicated managerial equation.  Unfortunately, the resulting Classic Club failed on two important counts.  First, it is a generic, overbuilt golf course – a track which gets neither players nor fans particularly interested.  And second, it is situated on the north side of the Interstate 10 which, as any trucker heading for Arizona can testify, is one of the American Southwest’s great wind tunnels.  How windy?  Tom Doak once wrote of the nearby Desert Dunes Golf Club that the wind “blew the door off the superintendent’s pickup truck one day while he was shutting off the irrigation.”  The Classic Club isn’t quite that bad, but you get the idea.  Combine all this with a five-day pro-am format that most of the pros dislike, and what are we left with?  But it’s the George Lopez thing that really makes you wonder.  I mean, if Lopez, a legitimate star, a loyal Southern California native and a dedicated golfer, wasn’t good enough for the committee, who will be?  Pat Boone?

Saturday's Round of the Day

Four years ago, former amateur superstar Grace Park won the Kraft Nabisco, finished 2nd in LPGA earnings, and looked every bit an elite player for years to come.  Back and neck injuries slowed her progress dramatically, however, her game slipping to the point where she'd only made one cut (a T50 at the Women's British Open) since last June.  But on Saturday, following opening rounds of 73-71, Park re-entered the spotlight by racking up seven birdies en route to shooting a flawless seven-under-par 65.  Still trailing by nine, she's not going to win this weekend...but perhaps with a strong finish, this might just be the start of something.