No matter what you think about Tiger Woods, the one thing we can all agree on is his intmidation factor on the golf course. Just watching him on the television gets you a little out of your element.

His stare boars through walls, his fist pumps break into more senses than just sight and his build and distance almost blankets what his opponents are donig. I think it's safe to say Tiger bothers his playing partners.

Flash in the 2008 pan Greg Norman thinks even stronger about this. He thinks the opponents, especially the young lads, don't even give themselves a puncher's chance when Woods is lurking.

"This generation of golfers has just been whipped by Tiger. They go out there thinking that they can't beat him, so they don't."

Well, I think it is a little jab at the players but isn't this just fact? When people play with Woods, they're beat before they tee off, right? Who in their right mind was sitting around watching Rocco Mediate playing Tiger and thought, for a second, that Woods was defeated?

Greg Norman's last two weeks have been filled with tons of emotion.

He went into the Open Championship on absolutely no expert's list to win, yet turned the clock back on the four days at Royal Birkdale, making it exciting for golf fans young and old. He then helicoptered to Royal Troon for the Senior British and after struggling Thursday and Friday, put together rounds of 67-68 to get himself in the top-5 for the second straight week.

Now, he's decided to decline the invitation the PGA of America extended him to play in the PGA Championship.

"While I truly appreciate the PGA extending me an exemption for this year's PGA Championship, I have elected to decline in favor of adhering to the professional and personal commitments I made prior to The Open Championship at Royal Birkdale," said Norman on his website.

I believe Norman is doing the right thing. No matter your take on his career, Greg was one of the best golfers on the 90s, winning 12 PGA Tour tournaments and a major during the decade and despite his obvious choke performances, was always a force to be reckon with.

Greg Norman was the most improbable story during last week's British Open; the former two-time winner, now 53, led the whole thing heading into the final round, before the weather, age and Padraig Harrington's lights-out back nine all conspired against him.

Perhaps second only to Norman's unlikely showing was that of David Duval, the 2001 Open Champion and one of golf's best young players at the turn of the century who fell off the grid in recent years. He emerged at Royal Birkdale, and sandwiched rounds of 73, 69 and 71 around an ugly Saturday 83 that basically eliminated him from contention.

But Duval, who has played in 13 PGA events this season (making just two cuts), will tee it up at the Reno-Tahoe Open next week. Shockingly, he thinks Michelle Wie, playing the event on a sponsor's exemption, would be better off honing her game against women, but understands the economics of it all.

"You're in or you're not in. It's pretty simple," Duval said. "Whether I agree if she should be playing - I think she would be better off on the Futures Tour competing against women - is neither here nor there. (Tournament director) Michael Stearns thinks she can bring people in, and that's his job. If some guy needs a spot in the field, chances are he's not going to sell any tickets. She might add 2,000."

It was a truly special week for Greg Norman at the British Open last week.

Contending in a tournament he won twice, the 53-year-old Norman gave the golf tournament significance for more than what golfer wasn't in attendance at Royal Birkdale.

No matter how he played, Norman stood by the fact that the British was just a warm-up for the Senior British Open, but it looks as though his energy tank is getting fairly close to empty. Norman, playing with Tom Watson and everyone's favorite quitter, Sandy Lyle, shot a four-over 75 to find himself in an early tie for 71st.

On Wednesday, Norman admitted he was optimistic about this week at Royal Troon.

"Now, my expectations are good," Norman said. "I like the golf course. Remember my comment last week: 'I was using the British Open for a warmup to the British Senior Open' - should have been the other way round.

"So now I've warmed up, basically. OK, so now I've got to step up and, hopefully, I can do that over the next four or five days."

Fifty-three-year-old Greg Norman was the story of the Open Championship through 63 holes. And then Padraig Harrington played some of the best golf we've seen this year on his way to his second Claret Jug in as many British Opens.

It's easy to suggest that his back nine 39 was indicative of another Norman-esque final-round collapse, but who had the guy atop the leaderboard after three rounds and more than three years removed from the PGA Tour? Right, nobody.

Whatever you call it (and I'm going with "balls-out performance"), the PGA Championship, the last major of the year, is very interested in having Norman tee it up early next month. Partially because ratings could be at an all-time low in the Tiger era, but also because Norman hasn't been this (in)famous since 1996.

"I'm hoping we can get him to play [Oakland Hills]," PGA of America CEO Joe Steranka said Monday at the club in Bloomfield Township, where he was speaking to the Detroit Economic Club. "He would be a special invitation. We're going to talk about that this week with our executive committee that approves those invitations. (There are) a handful."

According to the Detroit Free Press, Norman has committed to playing the the Senior British Open and the U.S. Senior Open this week and next, but after that, "That's it. I don't plan on playing any more golf after that for a while."

During the Open Championship Final Round Live Blog, I wondered if Padraig Harrington's mind-blowing back nine on his way to back-to-back Claret Jugs was more impressive than Tiger Woods hobbling around Torrey Pines for 91 holes for his 14th major victory at Torrey Pines last month.

i was quickly dismissed as a heretic -- and rightly so, upon reflection -- and the ratings support the notion that an Eldrick-less tournament is one with fewer viewers. According to the Los Angeles Times, the overnight ratings for ABC's final round British Open coverage Sunday fell 14.6%, from a 4.1 to a 3.5.

The final round Buick Open ratings -- a tournament Tiger also usually plays -- dropped 12 percent, and the AT & T National -- Wood's second annual event -- saw ratings plummet 48 percent during the fourth round from a year ago.

None of this is good news, despite the intriguing British Open story lines of Greg Norman trying to hold it together at age 53, and Padraig Harrington coming through to win his second consecutive Open title.

But with the PGA Championship and the Ryder Cup -- two of pro golf's biggest titles -- still on the table, and both without Woods, you can be sure the PGA of America is keeping its fingers crossed for both of its prime properties.

It's amazing, actually. I figured the ratings would be down, but not by almost 15 percent. I don't see things changing anytime soon, though; the PGA Championship is the red-headed stepchild among the four majors and the U.S. hasn't been competitive in the Ryder Cup since last century.

So, yeah, hurry back, Tiger.

You can assume something about someone all you want, but until they confirm it, it's impossible to ever know if it really true. We can now, thanks to an upcoming interview in Vogue, cited below by an Australian Web site, all accept the reality that the elderly-superstar-athlete relationship between Chris Evert and Greg Norman did begin as an extramarital affair.

The tennis legend revealed that she and Norman had tried to fight their desire for each other and had undergone couples-counseling with their longtime spouses, Andy Mill and Laura Andrassy, in an effort to overcome their mutual attraction.

But Evert, who married the Great White Shark in a lavish ceremony in the Bahamas last month, said counselling did not work and the pair dissolved their marriages to be together.

"It was like an irresistible force," she said. "How do you explain something like that?"

It is the first time the sporting power couple have publicly admitted they had embarked on an illicit romantic relationship while they were still with their spouses.

Far be it for me to stand on a pedestal and chastise Evert and Norman. In fact, I'm more of the opinion that the affair, while possibly detrimental to other relationships, is at least (now) the most honest part of the whole situation.

It might take some time to truly appreciate what went on at the 2008 Open Championship.

With the top golfer in existence not around to fist pump, it was going to take some heavy story lines to keep people interesting. Little did we know an Irishman, an Australian and a dude in pink pants would make this major better than expected.

Here are the winners and losers from British Open week.

A back nine that will be remembered as one of the most solid finishes ever in windy conditions was what Padraig Harrington needed to win his second consecutive Open Championship.

Out in three-over 37, Harrington fought off a charging Ian Poulter and a struggling Greg Norman to claim his second major championship and put his name alongside the likes of Old Tom Morris, Bobby Jones, Peter Thompson and Tiger Woods as back-to-back champions of the Open.

"I was real good today," Harrington said after his round.

Padraig found his game at the turn, making birdies on 13, 15 and one of the best shots you'll ever see on the 17th hole to set up a short eagle putt that gave him a four shot lead heading to the 18th tee. A two-putt par on the last had the Irishman flashing a huge smile and that historic trophy for another 52 weeks.

Unlike last year, Harrington got to embrace and enjoy the walk up the 18th green, besting the field by four shots in a tournament that was up for grabs most of the day.

Questionable at the beginning of the week because of a wrist injury, Harrington was steady all week, posting rounds of 74-68-72-69 to join just Ernie Els on the list of golfers to break par in two of the four days.

A lot of critics were worried people would view this tournament with an asterisk because Woods wasn't a part of the field but that back nine by Harrington will shut the critics up. Impressive ball-striking, a putter that never cooled off and the experience you need to pull off the perfect shot at the perfect time has Padraig with his second Claret Jug.

While the weather continue to make the best golfers in the world look like municipal golf hacks, one Englishman is trying to win one for his country.

Ian Poutler and his pink pants rolled in a monumental birdie putt on the 16th hole, three-putted for par on the 17th and made the putt of the tournament for par on the 18th to post seven-over for the championship and be the leader in the clubhouse.

Always a bit of a strange character, Poulter did exactly what Ben Curtis did on his way to the Claret Jug in 2003. Survive the elements, make a couple of huge putts and go hang out in the clubhouse while everyone else makes bogeys on their way in.

Padraig Harrington is still leading by a shot over Poulter and has two par-5s left to make some birdies to put this away, but as we've seen so far this morning, anything can happen with the winds gusting like they are.

Harrington is trying to defend his title at Royal Birkdale while Poulter is trying to become the sixth Englishman to win the Open Championship in the last 58 years.

If you're around the computer and have some time to chat, head over to the live blog, where we're still amazed at Poulter and still concerned for Greg Norman.