As Harrington successfully defended his The Open Championship (as they say it in Britain) ..... he probably indirectly helped out the Shell Houston Open. Harrington likes playing at Redstone ... .and he and other international players certainly like playing there one week before the Masters. Who knows .... maybe Norman will even be here?? (Probably not because his ex-wife is from Houston .... and still has plenty of family here.)

Norman has always been a flambouyant character. Does he have an ego? Yes. Is he approachable?? Yes. When he first opened his signature course West of Houston ... Meadowbrook Farms ..... he came to town and explain why he designed the holes the way he did. But at the same time .... he talked a lot about his philosophies on life and such ... and he seemed like a pretty down to earth guy (if that's possible for a multi-millionaire who is world famous). He basicaly was Tiger ... before Tiger. He was Tiger Shark ... if you will.

Because I'm about the same age as Norman ... of course I was pulling for him. But I was not sad to see "Paddy The Irishman" win either. Harrington is a good chap .... and just happen to have a Championship mindset Sunday ... that Norman ... didn't quite have. But of course ... long before he married Chris Evert ... when he was back in his prime .... sometimes Norman seemed to let his Championship focus wander. That's why he may be the greatest loser of all time. He was always gracious in either victory or defeat .... it was just that his greatest losses were in majors. Don't feel sorry for him though .... because he has the best consolation prize of anyone: A trophy wife(who's also a multi-mllionaire) ... .multiple yachts, houses and loads of money. Losing majors I guess is good business.

Here's something else to think about .... if he would have won it ... you know that many would have been asking for him to be blood-tested ..... because many people believe that he couldn't possibly be playing that great without using some illegal substance like HGH or steroids. It's just the way the world is now.