- Generation Gap:  Most of the attention in Europe Thursday was on Ross Fisher, and rightly so.  The 27-year-old Englishman finished with a run of six straight birdies en route to a smoking 63, good enough not only to claim the first-round lead at the European Open but also to break the London Golf Club’s course record of 64, which had been held by Seve Ballesteros since 1984.  Two behind Fisher is Northern Ireland’s Graeme McDowell (a winner in Korea earlier this season), but it is the next two names on the leaderboard that make for an interesting comparison, David Frost and Rory McIlroy.  Frost, of course, is no stranger to golf fans the world over.  Now 48, he must surely stand among the more underrated players of his era, for this “former member of the constabulary” (- Ben Wright) won 10 times on the PGA Tour (including the 1989 World Series of Golf) between 1988-1997, while also compiling an international record that features victories in Europe, Japan, Hong Kong and, of course, his native South Africa, where he won nine times, including two South African Opens (1986 and 1999) and three Sun City Million Dollar Challenges.  At present, Frost is a quiet regular on the E Tour, where he has made 13 of 15 cuts thus far in 2008 – and he would clearly look an early line favorite for Champions Tour dominance upon becoming eligible in September of next year.  Meanwhile, at the other end of the generational spectrum is Northern Ireland’s 19-year-old Rory McIlroy, whose opening-round 67 stands him alone in 4th, two behind McDowell and Frost.  Having turned professional at the ripe old age of 18, McIlroy made a major splash in the latter part of 2007 by finishing 3rd at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship and tied for 4th at the Madrid Open.  He has found the going a bit rougher in 2008, however, having logged only a single top 10 (7th at May’s Irish Open) and missing the cut in eight of the 16 events he’s entered.  Obviously a prodigious talent, McIlroy perhaps just needs a touch more competitive seasoning to reach his full potential, and there’s not telling what a first E Tour victory might do for his confidence.  But for all the brilliance of his prospects, would a smart betting man trade David Frost’s past for Rory McIlroy’s future?

- Living Legend:  The 2008 season has thus far offered limited success for Japanese golfing icon Masashi “Jumbo” Ozaki who, at age 61, has entered six J Tour events before this week, withdrawing from two, being disqualified from a third, and missing the cut in the remaining three.  Yet much like Jack Nicklaus or Arnold Palmer still drew massive crowds long past their playing prime, Ozaki certainly deserves a similar eminence in his homeland where he remains, hands down, Japan’s greatest-ever domestic golfer.  Indeed, though he didn’t travel especially well (his lone non-Japanese win coming at the 1972 New Zealand PGA), Ozaki’s J Tour record is literally staggering.  For example, he won a mind boggling 106 tournaments in Japan, and while the J Tour (which was officially founded in 1985) only recognizes 94 as official, the remainder were of entirely comparable quality; they were simply won a few years too early.  Further, Jumbo won five Japan Opens and six Japan PGAs, led the Order of Merit an unmatched 12 times (including nine of 11 from 1988-98), and remained among the top 20 in the Official World Ranking until age 52, making him easily the oldest man to retain so high a position.  But all of that said, it can be argued that Ozaki might be somewhat overrated, for while fellow Japanese stars like Isao Aoki and Tommy Nakajima achieved some notable success overseas (Aoki finishing 2nd at the 1980 U.S. Open and winning the 1983 Hawaiian Open), Ozaki really did not.  For he had only a minimal impact on the various PGA Tour events he competed in, and his Major championship record – three top 10s against 18 missed cuts in 44 career starts – is lukewarm at best.  But if I were attending this week’s UBS Japan Golf Tour Championship, or any other J Tour event in which Jumbo tees it up, he would certainly be the player I’d choose to follow.  Because historically, there haven’t been too many opportunities to watch a player with 100+ trophies from a single professional tour on his mantlepiece.  Like…never.