ESPN Commentary

SOUTHPORT, England -- Let me make sure I've got this right.

Situated second on the British Open leaderboard is a blond, AARP-aged Aussie newlywed who had to peel $103 million from his money clip so he could divorce his first wife and marry a woman who has 16 more major championships than him. He hasn't made a PGA Tour cut since 2005, began the week as a 500-1 long shot and nearly split his rainsuit pants while making one of the best up and downs you'll see in this or any other lifetime.

So the next time someone tries to tell you that golf can't possibly survive without Tiger Woods, remember to mention the 137th British Open. We miss the lug and wish him, and his reconstructed ACL all the best, but Birkdale and the Open are doing just fine without him.

But who knew the post-Tiger Era would begin with a guy from the pre-Tiger Era? It's like finding an eight-track cassette that still works.

Greg Norman is 53, which would make him five years older than any Open champion if he somehow wins this thing. He's put together a pair of even-par 70s, and is just one shot behind second-round leader K.J. Choi. Not bad for a guy who's more business conglomerate than golfer these days.

"My expectations were almost nil coming in, to tell you the truth," Norman said. "I hadn't played a lot of golf. I was trying to work on my game as much as I could. Obviously we had a lot of preparation getting ready for the wedding."

The wedding. A reported $2 million ceremony in the Bahamas last month. And the bride was none other than Chris Evert, winner of 18 Grand Slam tennis championships.

Together they have 20 majors, five kids, three exes and one helluva extended honeymoon. I got a close look at the rock on Evert's finger. It's the size of a Pro V1.

"My life is great," Norman said. "I've got a wonderful wife and my whole being that's going on around here is just beautiful, to tell you the truth."

Norman didn't used to talk like the late Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Back in the day, when he was winning a couple of British Opens (and barely missing out on eight other majors) he could cut steel I beams with his glare. He had that Chiclets smile, but he also had a scary, almost unsettling intensity.

Fifteen long years have passed since he won his most recent major, a 2-stroke victory over Nick Faldo at Royal St. George's. The hair is still long and blond, but there are more wrinkles around the eyes, more mileage on the swing.

"But it's not like he's 60," said Woody Austin, one of his playing partners on Thursday and Friday. "It's not like he's deteriorated where he's not hitting the ball."

He can still hit it. And putt it too. Did you see the up and down he made from a greenside pot bunker on the 439-yard, par-4 16th? He had to squat like a sumo wrestler and hope he didn't skull the ball into the face of the trap, or skull it over the green, or, you know, rupture his hernia.

Somehow he splashed the shot 6 feet from the flagstick, then made the par saver. He made a 12-footer on No. 17 to escape with a bogey. And on No. 18, after receiving a partial standing O from the fans in the grandstands, he sent his 60-foot birdie putt past the cup, down a hill and onto the fringe.

No worries. He sank the 20-foot bender for par.

"He was No. 1 in the world," Austin said. "All he has to do is tap into it."

When he was done, Norman walked up the hill toward the scorer's trailer, where Evert waited with a kiss. Then on to a BBC interview, and then to the press center.

Evert doesn't play golf. But she understands what it's like to win championships. And she understands Norman's golf legacy.

"When you turned on the TV you watched him," Evert said. "I watched maybe a little bit of [Seve] Ballesteros, a little bit of Jack Nicklaus. But I think Greg had that charisma."

Evert The Newlywed also mentioned that Norman had "a great walk -- in case you guys haven't noticed. He's got that great walk and a great stand. … He's in great shape."

That's nice, but prior to playing here, his past five walks on the PGA Tour produced rounds of 71, 80, 79, 70 and 79. And did we mention that he's 53?

"It's two days," Evert said. "We've got two more days … Never in a million years [did he have] any expectations for this tournament."

No one saw this coming. Not Norman, not Evert, not the oddsmakers. Not even his caddie, Linn Strickler, who has been around long enough to have seen just about everything.

A few of us stood with Strickler after the round. Someone asked if Norman stepped back into time these past few days.

Strickler took the last draw from a cigarette and said, "H.G. Wells." Then he waved us off.

"That's it, boys," he said.

I get it: Wells and his book, "The Time Machine." Good one.

Norman knows a good story when he sees one. That's why earlier in the week he walked up to 45-year-old Rocco Mediate, the grinder who almost beat Woods at Torrey Pines, and told him on the Birkdale putting green, "Rocco, the best thing to happen to the game of golf was what you did at the U.S. Open. It's great to see that, and the game of golf needed that, and a lot of people needed to see that."

Norman is the British Open's Rocco. He's older, and there's no Woods to battle, but you get the point. Before this started, Norman's wedding cake had as much chance to win this thing as he did.

Now, according to the British bookies, he's a 20-1 shot. But he still has 36 holes to go, and Saturday's forecast calls for rain and wind gusts of up to 45 mph. That's strong enough to lift even Evert's diamond ring, to say nothing of Norman's score.

It'd be something though if Norman is still in contention come Sunday afternoon. After all those golf heartbreaks he's suffered -- Larry Mize's chip-in, Nicklaus' comeback, Bob Tway's bunker shot, the collapse against Nick Faldo -- maybe this is Norman's payback.

"I don't think there is any owing in golf," Norman said. "I think you've just got to take advantage of the situation you're in."

Norman is in a situation, all right. Possibly one for the ages. Now we see what Generation AARP can do with it.

Gene Wojciechowski is the senior national columnist for ESPN.com. You can contact him at gene.wojciechowski@espn3.com.