BOO WINS!

What a finish! Weekley's two chip-in pars beat Els by a shot. Then, just when you thought it was over, Els almost holes out his second shot at 18 to force a playoff. A really great finish to a strange week of weather and golf.

A few thoughts:

Weekley's chip-ins were karmic justice for his unfortunate miss at the Honda earlier this year. Weekley is a great character, with a lot of game, and this victory ensures his place at the '08 Masters. This blog looks forward to that appearance.

Ernie's game continues to confound. He let this tournament get away from him twice. First, he shot a pedestrian even-par 71 in the third round when he led by three coming after round two. Then, three putts at two and three put him behind the eight in today's final round.

What was all the more frustrating for the big easy was his play over the final four holes. Two huge shots got him an easy two-putt birdie at 15, he followed with a perfect drive and approach to 16 that led to a tap-in par. At this point, Ernie appeared to be in complete control, but Weekley chips-in at 17 and then Ernie hits his drive in the hazard and makes bogey. With the tournament seemingly over, Els crushes his drive and almost holes his second for an improbable eagle, finishing with a birdie at the toughest hole on the course.

Is Els getting closer? Well, the results would indicate he is, but it still seems that Ernie's killer instinct/confidence is not quite there. This week was obviously a huge improvement over the Masters, but it's still not there. Els is planning on playing in Asia this week, but will be back in North America in a few weeks. I still think, as I said at the beginning of the tournament, that he's very close to running off a few wins, but Ernie is getting harder and harder to figure.

Finally, a comment about the conditions. Were they crazy or what? The wind on those final three holes was right out of the '02 Open Championship at Muirfield when Tiger shot 80. It was fascinating to see the players try to attack those final holes with all kinds of different shots. Here's hoping The Open serves up similar conditions in July.