The B.C. Open, The T.S. Open, or simply, The Open

Many pretenders delude themselves by misleading others that “The Open” championship is under contest this week on a continent other than North America. Upstate New York, specifically Verona, is the site of the true “Open” championship of July, 2006. Forget Royal Liverpool, how about Two Gentlemen of Verona? Old Will (and I’m not talking about the anciente, decrepit Wolfrum) would certainly appreciate the latter reference.

The two gentlemen might be the Maruyama boys (no relation.) Daisuke and Shigeki find themselves 3 and 4 strokes (respectively) off the lead, heading into round four. Or they might be Bob May (4 back) and Larry Mize (3 baehind), members of the older guard, jump-starting the twilight of their careers. More? How about David Branshaw of Oswego and Madalitso Muthiya of Zambia? Oswego is an hour or so from Verona, while Zambia is not nearly so close. Both, however, are in contention. Do three Swedes equal two gentlemen? If so, Daniel Chopra, Gabriel Hjertstedt and Mathias Gronberg are all within five strokes of the lead with Sunday’s round left.

The leaderboard is dotted with Japanese, Swedish, Indian, Mexican, Canadian, Australian, Argentine, and even a token American. That’s the Open for me!