From the Department of Never Admitting I am Wrong: Before the British Open, I predicted, outrageously, that 2004 champion Todd Hamilton would win again — and by the lights of psychic phenomena, I was right! (Bear with me here: I am having fun with this, wink wink.) You see, I saw in my mind’s eye the name of the winner, and it was a former champion whose name began with “H-a” and ended with “t-o-n.” And I heard in my mind’s ear the announcers talking about a former champion who was thought to have NO chance of winning making the turn for home (the final nine holes) with a one-stroke lead, as the long-shot of all long-shots. I naturally put two and two together and assumed that that longshot former champion would be the same former champion who actually did win and whose name started “H-a” and ended “t-o-n.” Naturally, putting all that together, I came up with Todd Hamilton, because of course nobody even gave Greg Norman a second thought…. and because, well, NOBODY this side of Tom Watson, Lee Trevino or Arnold Palmer (i.e. an all-time great) ever successfully defends his title, thus ruling out defender Padraig Harrington, a decent enough player but no all-time great by any means.

So you see, I was right! Former champion Greg Norman was the longshot with the lead, and former champion Padraig H-a-rring-t-o-n won the Claret Jug. By the standards of psychic accuracy, I was dead on target! Yea!

Now, why go through all of this balderdash? To make any reader silly enough to have gotten this far actually give some credence to my prediction for the winner of this week’s PGA Championship.

The answer: Davis Love III. With Justin Leonard second. It’s 1997 all over again, and you heard it here first.

(Now if Charles Howell III wins, of course I will have been right by psychic standards because he also is a IIIrd. So there!)

Enjoy the tourney!