And yet if we have learned anything about Harrington, 36, it is that he is one of the most resilient players in the game today. He is not as gifted, nor does he possess the same skills as a Tiger Woods or a Phil Mickelson or even a Sergio Garcia, who was the tough-luck loser again on Sunday.

But the man has moxie. And that is why his victory comes as no surprise at all. The man loves it when his back his up against the wall. He shot a 4-under-par 66 to rally from three strokes back with nine holes to play, shooting another 32 on the back nine -- just like at Royal Birkdale -- to win by two strokes over Garcia and Ben Curtis.

"I just finished doing cartwheels," said Harrington's longtime coach, Bob Torrance, 76, when reached after midnight at his Scotland home. "The back nine was unbelievable. He holed some fantastic putts. And you have to do those things to win majors. He has gone well beyond and he is one of the top players in the world. He's just a great, unbelievable pressure player. Under the crush, he is just extremely good."

And that is exactly what Harrington relishes. He has now won three of the last six major championships -- not even Woods can say that, although he's missed the last two due to injury. Harrington undoubtedly took much from his Open victory last year in a playoff over Garcia at Carnoustie, and last month's four-shot win over Ian Poulter at Royal Birkdale.

• She has won a total of 72 tournaments.
• She is the only woman to shoot a 59.
• She was named player-of-the-year eight times.
• She completed a grand slam.

When his left knee buckled at last year's PGA Championship, Tiger Woods wouldn't admit he hurt himself. It was a little embarrassing considering the limp developed after his fist-pump celebration of a birdie on the eighth hole at Southern Hills. It would have been out of character for Woods, an athlete who trains as if he were in Delta Force, a man who has parachuted out of planes and loves running around Isleworth in Orlando with a weight vest in sweat-dripping heat, to admit to a weakness. "As far as hurting myself, no. All good," Woods said that day in Tulsa after winning his 13th major championship.

Woods seemed invincible at the time, at the height of his power both mentally and physically -- but when the story broke the Tuesday after the Masters that Tiger had had his third knee surgery since 1994, it came as a shock in several ways. Although it is true Woods limped at times in tournaments during last year's PGA Tour Playoffs and took a long time getting out of the bunker on the fourth hole during the final round at Augusta National two weeks ago, few suspected anything significant. The circle of people who knew Woods had elected to get his knee "cleaned up" was so small, several of Woods' closest advisors didn't know.

Not anymore. In swirling winds that wreaked havoc on most of the field, Immelman held his nerve and survived a late double bogey to shoot a final-round 75 and win the 2008 Masters by three shots over Tiger Woods, who also finished second in 2007.

"Here I am, after missing the cut last week, the Masters champion," Immelman said. "It's the craziest thing I've ever heard of."

Stewart Cink, paired with Woods in the third-to-last group of the day, shot a 72 to finish in a tie for third with Brandt Snedeker, who played with Immelman and missed several short putts on the way to a 77.

"The way it was playing, pars on all those back-nine holes were just such a good score," Immelman said. "How many two-shot swings did we have today? You could have a two-shot swing every hole. I just tried to hang in there."

Geoff Ogilvy was at 14-under par through 11 holes and kept his one-shot lead, only now it was Adam Scott on his heels, not the world's No. 1 player who has won every tournament he has played since September.

Woods was at 11 under, even for the day, the only player among the top 18 who was not under par for the round.

Scott was practically flawless, making up five shots in five holes against Woods, taking the outright lead with a 25-foot birdie putt that swirled around the cup before falling, looking confident with every hole he played. Ogilvy still hasn't made a bogey this week, and two late birdies allowed him to regain the lead.

And then it rained.

Play was suspended at 1:15 p.m. due to a dangerous situation. The 61 players (out of 79) who did not finish their round will be back in position at 8:30 a.m. Sunday. The final round is expected to begin between 11:35 a.m.-1:45 p.m. with threesomes off of split tees.

He was in a playoff against Vijay Singh, one of golf's toughest customers.

And he never felt more at ease.

Lowery took advantage of a stunning collapse by Singh, who made three straight bogeys on the back nine, then put him away on the first extra hole with a 7-foot birdie putt to win the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.

"I couldn't have given it any more in 18 holes," said Lowery, who closed with a 4-under 68 and earned $1.08 million. "I just told my caddie, 'I've got nothing to lose.' Just go out and play aggressive."

Needing a birdie on the par-five 18th to force a playoff, overnight leader Els hit his tee shot into the water and made bogey.

"To go 2-for-2, it's a pretty good start, isn't it?" said Woods who won by one shot from rising star Martin Kaymer of Germany.

Woods had already finished when Kaymer, who won the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship two weeks ago, closed with a birdie-birdie-eagle for a 66.

Els's 71 gave the South African a 12-under total of 276 for a share of third place with Louis Oosthuizen, who finished with a 65.

This is the third time Woods has started a season with two straight victories, and it was another sign that the world's No. 1 player could be headed for a big year.

She's the next big thing. The person you'll be searching on for the next decade. You'll probably grow tired of her, but you'll still search on her name as if possessed. Behold the future! Behold Anna Rawson!

The model-turned-golfer is blowing up in Buzz, currently resting among our top 100 overall searches. That's huge, folks... Orson Welles huge. One look at Rawson's pictures and it's easy to understand the infatuation. Objectively speaking, she's quite fetching and must inspire a drooling gallery wherever she plays.

Naturally, folks are most interested in seeing photos of the gorgeous golfer. Searches on "anna rawson pictures" and "anna rawson photos" are both way above par. Also spiking are queries for "anna rawson lpga" and "anna rawson model." Men dominate the lookups, accounting for 88% of all searches on the lovely linkswoman.

She's already won more than her share of adoring fans. Can Rawson become a true champion by winning tournaments like a certain Tiger? If she does, the buzz (and endorsement) possibilities are endless.

Thorpe successfully defended his title in the Charles Schwab Championship, birdieing the final four holes Sunday to win the Champion Tour's season-ending event for the third time in five years.

Thorpe, who edged Tom Jenkins by $4,079 for the 30th and last spot in the field, shot a 6-under 66 to finish at 20-under 268, three strokes ahead of Denis Watson and Fred Funk. It was Thorpe's 13th tour victory and first since the 2006 event.

"Coming in this week I knew my game was showing sparks," Thorpe said. "Normally at the end of the year my game starts to peak a little bit. I really didn't putt well until the last five or six holes this week but this is probably my best ball-striking week ever. I hit my irons unbelievably good."

Roberts, meanwhile, held on to win the season-long Charles Schwab Cup competition for a $1 million annuity, shooting a 66 to tie for 13th at 11 under.

Roberts, who lost the points title to Jay Haas in 2006 after missing a short putt on the final hole of the season-ending tournament, was in jeopardy of losing to Haas again after three sub-par rounds, but did just enough Sunday to win.

"Definitely been tough not winning," said Weir, who earned $900,000 to jump from 84th to 33rd on the money list at $1,986,053. "You know, that's what we're all out here to do, and 3 1/2 years has been quite a long time."

Weir secured his long-awaited victory with a 6-foot par putt after hitting his approach on the par-4 18th into a greenside bunker.

"It was gusting across there," he said. "It's pretty open on that green, and my pant legs were whipping pretty good there when I hit that putt. I just told myself to keep my head nice and steady and just try to hit it nice and solid."

Fans serenaded a grinning Weir with a rendition of "O Canada" after he spoke to reporters.

The 2003 Masters champion took the lead with a birdie on the par-4 15th, rolling a chip shot to a foot, then held off Hensby over the final three holes.

"I think the turning point probably in the tourney was 15," Hensby said.

Along the way, he won seven of 16 events, including last month's PGA Championship -- his 13th major title -- and the season-ending Tour Championship yesterday in Atlanta. Being the first golfer to earn the silver FedEx Cup trophy and receive its $10 million annuity prize was just a bonus, he said.

"For me, I don't look at what the purse is or prize money," Woods said in a post-round press conference yesterday. "When you play, you play to win. That's the way I was raised."

When asked what mattered more to him, the Tour Championship or the FedEx Cup, Woods hardly hesitated. He declined to be the first to kiss the FedEx Cup trophy, though PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem urged him to do so before presenting him with it on East Lake Golf Club's 18th green.

"Winning the FedEx Cup is one thing, but I think as a player you always want to win the Tour Championship," said Woods, who finished at 23-under-par, eight shots ahead of Mark Calcavecchia and Zach Johnson. "There's history involved."