People & Open II

My apologies to anyone who may have read any of my movie reviews that included spoilers, especially to Mr. or Ms. Anonymous, who let me know my error right between the eyes. In the case of People Like Us, there really wasn’t a spoiler about the two main characters being half-siblings. That was revealed almost from the beginning of the movie. It was only I and my hopeless romanticism that wanted them somehow to find a romantic connection. The film would have been worth it if only for the Six Rules that Sam had gotten from his father and then passed on to Josh, Frankie’s son. And without spoiling anything, the way it was all resolved was special, and jerked a tear or two. Two aspects of the plot bother me, though: Can a recovering alcoholic work as a bar tender without falling off the wagon over and over? And why is it that so many young actors have a perennial two-day beard? Do women actually find that attractive? In my youth, girls were always complaining about whisker burn after some serious necking. Yet today, nearly all leading men and nearly all male sports figures have that same two-day beard. They must all shave with an electric razor set for that length. Please, someone, enlighten me. Enough about People Like Us. Go see it

Day Two of the Open. Tiger shot another tactically efficient round, a 67 highlighted by his hole-out from the bunker on 18. None of the announcers has even mentioned that of the four par-5’s he’s played, he’s birdied one, parred two, and bogeyed the par-5 eleventh in his round today. That’s most unusual. He’ll get back on his par-5 track tomorrow. He’ll be in the penultimate group with a young man from Denmark, Thorbjorn Olesen, who’ll get a taste of Tiger heat and Tiger gallery feeding frenzy. Good luck with that, young Mr. Olesen. Brandt Snedeker is leading at minus 10 with Adam Scott right behind at minus 9. But Tiger is there, waiting to pounce. And if the wind picks up as is forecast, almost anything can happen to scores on the weekend. Here’s a list of prominent players who didn’t make the cut: Sergio Garcia, Justin Rose, Charl Schwartzel, Stewart Cink, Martin Kaymer, Robert Allenby, Darren Clarke, Lucas Glover Angel Cabrera, and Phil Mickleson. And just look at who made the cut: a 62-year-old Tom Watson. Take that, all you young guns.