IMPORTANT NOTE: Due to scheduled maintenance, Squarespace websites will not be accessible from approximately 1:00 a.m. - 3:00 a.m. on Monday, May 12th.  This may delay posting of the upcoming Week In Review page slightly...but we'll see. 

- Meanwhile, Across The Ocean: It was an interesting choice indeed for world #48 Robert Karlsson to pass up a spot in the lucrative Players Championship in favor of one in the European Tour’s Italian Open, an event featuring less than one-third of the Players’ prize money and who knows how many fewer World Ranking points.  But Karlsson’s motive – precious Ryder Cup points – was a certainly a logical one; he just needed to make certain he brought his A game and didn’t squander the opportunity for a high finish against a relatively lean field.  The big Swede’s opening 68, though eminently solid, did little in the way of grabbing the world’s attention, but he certainly delivered on Friday, uncorking a record 11-under-par 61 over the Castello di Tolcinasco Golf & Country Club layout.  This splendid round included eight birdies (all of which came between the third and 12th holes) and two eagles, plus a single bogey at the 433-yard 13th, and might well have crept below 60 as Karlsson could only par the last three holes, including the 387-yard 17th and the 423-yard 18th.  In the end, his 129 total provided a two-stroke halfway lead over South Africa’s Hennie Otto (who the Sunshine Tour website really did list as playing in Swaziland this week) and England’s Mark Foster.  For those of us who’ve admired the 38-year-old Karlsson’s not-unimposing talent over the years, the only question is why such leads don’t happen more often...

- Tackling A New Frontier:  With sponsor exemptions unavailable at the Players Championship, 609th-ranked John Daly has taken the Trainwreck Express overseas of late, missing the cut at last week’s Spanish Open, then creeping into the weekend with rounds of 67-73 in Italy.  In Daly’s world, everything apparently is okay.  Tossed by ex-coach Butch Harmon, the big fella is “working out the kinks” on his own (no worries there, because Butch never won any Majors) and healthy after recent surgery to his quasi-mysterious rib injury (does this mean there won’t be seven withdrawals this year?).  And while I sort of doubt that they have Hooters Pavilions at many E Tour events, Europe would appear to be especially fruitful ground for Daly’s number one non-golfing hobby: getting tanked with fans after the round.  I was, however, a bit curious: though Daly is a two-time Major champion, those wins came several lifetimes (not to mention wives) ago.  So how, exactly, is he getting into these E Tour fields?  A little research produced that most ubiquitous of answers: big John has entered both recent E Tour events as a Category 4 player which, loosely translated means……sponsor exemptions.  It never ends!

- Age Before...: Leave it to the great Pete Dye to build a golf course which requires as much thought and shot placement as pure muscle, factors very much in evidence at the TPC Sawgrass this week.  First, at 7,215 yards, the TPC is hardly backbreaking by modern PGA Tour standards.  Second, we look to a pair of recent winners – 48-year-old Fred Funk in 2005 and 41-year-old Stephen Ames in 2006 – to illustrate that young and super long are not requisite qualities here.  And then there are today’s third-round pairings, which feature 43-year-old Paul Goydos, 47-year-old Kenny Perry and 50-year-old Bernhard Langer among the final four starters.  I would also note that from what I’ve seen, the golf course appears to be set up quite well, with a near-optimum balance of tough vs. fair.  Balls that are slightly mis-hit will struggle to finish close around Dye’s well-contoured greens, but there is little of the over-the-top, U.S. Open-like silliness that often artificially boosts luck’s role in the equation.  In fact, I like the setup so much that I will resist temptation and refrain from any more “Fifth Major” jokes for the remainder of the week.

- Overnight Update: Robert Karlsson eagled the first hole on Saturday (surely sparking thoughts of an epic runaway) before settling down to a semi-disappointing 69, which leaves him four shots behind 54-hole Italian Open leader Hennie Otto.  Otto, by the way, has finally had his Royal Swazi Sun Pro-Am status changed to “withdrawn” on the Sunshine Tour website, where we can only assume his red-hot Italian rounds of 65-66-63 finally triggered some recognition that he was not, in fact, teeing it up in Swaziland.  John Daly, meanwhile, must have found the right remedy Saturday morning as he opened with four birdies in his first five holes before hitting the wall, ultimately finishing with a 68 that leaves him tied for 46th through 54 holes.  Of course, someone may wish to remind the cash-strapped Daly that with the far lower purses in Europe, he’ll need to finish quite a bit better than 46th if he wants to turn a profit during these overseas sojourns – even if his drinks are on the house.