As you can see from the date of my last posting, I’ve been away for awhile. Call it what you will – summer vacation, sabbatical, exile, coma, whatever. But a lot has happened in my absence, so allow me to review a bit:

1. Greg Norman takes the lead into the final round of a major, then folds like a Dollar Store lawn chair. Funny, but I swear I’ve heard this before.

2. Paul Azinger’s work at the British Open establishes him as network golf’s best commentator. Great sense of humor, which will come in handy in Kentucky in a few weeks.

3. Michelle Wie plays three rounds of the State Farm Classic at 17-under par, one stroke off the lead, then gets disqualified for failing to sign her second-round scorecard. I’m sorry, but doesn’t this child go to Stanford?

4. Wie accepts an invitation to play in the PGA Tour’s Legends Reno-Tahoe Open, shoots 73-80 and misses the cut by nine strokes. The good news: two less rounds to worry about signing your scorecard.

5. Paddy Harrington wins the British Open and the PGA Championship. I think it’s now clear that this is not who you want to face in the final pairing of a major on Sunday.

6. Sergio Garcia contends at the British and the PGA but has still not won a major championship. And yet, don’t you know he will be a major pain in the butt for the U.S. at the Ryder Cup?

7. The campaign continues to add golf as an Olympic sport in 2016. Apparently, we’re not satisfied with just being pummeled by Europe every two years.

8. The LPGA requires that all of its members be proficient in English by the end of 2009. It’s either that or the other two billion or so of us need to pick up Korean.

9. I celebrate a half-century of existence by learning to play “Slow Ride” on Guitar Hero. Next up: “Welcome to the Jungle.” Who says life doesn’t begin at 50?