• AP Report…”Merritt shot a 5-under 67 on Monday to win the rain-delayed Barbasol Championship by one stroke. He led or shared the lead after each round. This was his second career PGA TOUR victory.”

• “A pretty nice payoff for renewed dedication that helped him keep his TOUR card after struggling to follow up his 2015 Quicken Loans National victory.”

• “You always ask yourself, is this the time to move on?” said Merritt, who earned $630,000 and 300 FedExCup points with the victory. He also is exempt through the 2019-20 season.”

• “The win highlights a good run for Merritt, who is 34-under par in his last seven rounds dating back to the second round of last week’s John Deere Classic. He tied for 43rd.”

• The 56-year-old arrived at Scotscraig Golf Club in Tayport, one of the four Senior British Open qualifying sites, the morning after coverage for the The Open concluded. Chamblee was on of 596 entrants trying to fill the 26 available spots.

• And fill a spot he did, earning co-medalist honors with a 2-under 69.

• The one-time PGA Tour winner stepped away from the sport in 2003. However, he told Golf Digest, the prospect of a Senior Open at St Andrews wasn’t something he could pass up.

• If “Tiger’ back” is the perspective at one end of the spectrum, then Tiger blew The Open is at the other end. The AP’s Tim Dahlberg happily represents the latter perspective.

Read excerpts of his harsh take with commentary from Geoff Shackelford…then read the whole darn thing…if you want to. .

• I wrote…While it’s fair to say Woods didn’t play his best golf down the stretch, and perhaps he asked too much from shots from the rough at the 11th and 12th, the suggestion that he choked, failed to capitalize, or got nervy when the heat was on is off base.

• That said, Woods’ legion of detractors will gleefully claim he choked. The Choke Lite take is that while Woods didn’t totally let things slip through his fingers, but the combination of opponents not self-destructing (most did though, Sunday, didn’t they?) and lacking the “step on their necks” gear he displayed so often earlier in his career did him in.

• More to the point, the 79-time Tour winner hit a few poor shots and tried to do too much on a couple of occasions. He paid the price for both. The larger import we see likely had more to do with our preconceived notions of Woods than anything that happened inside the ropes at Carnoustie Sunday.

• He writes: “All of that said, it is impossiblenot to be impressed with this latest comeback. I have said, only half-joking, that the comebacks should have roman numerals attached, like Super Bowls, because there have been so many.”

• …hilarious, John.

• “There was a moment when Rory McIlroy drained a prayer of a putt on 14 for eagle when it looked like the tournament might come down to him, Tiger Woods and Jordan Spieth. A hectic, unpredictable Sunday had gradually built toward its climax, and this seemed like the last piece of build-up. What came next, I thought, might actually go down in history as one of the greatest major finishes ever. And with due respect to Molinari, a comparatively dull two-shot win was not what I had in mind. Like it or not, a sporting event is defined by its ending, and the 2018 Open Championship was like a movie that keeps you on tenterhooks for 90 minutes and then sputters through the conclusion…”

• “I should have known better. Golf is a tease.”

• “There is little debate about the greatest rivalry in the sport’s history: It’s Jack vs. Arnold. In 1962, they met in a two-man 18-hole playoff at Oakmont. With the pro-Palmer crowd taunting him the entire way, Nicklaus prevailed. Only 22 years old, it wasn’t just his first major-it was his first professional win. It was also the peak of the rivalry, and it happened before anyone really knew the rivalry existed!”

• “In the ensuing decades, as they fought for supremacy, they never again met in a what anyone would call a true “duel.” Golf is a tease.”

• “Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson have never really fought it out mano-a-mano in a major. Golf is a tease.”

Full piece.

• “I’m going to handle him the way I do everyone else…I’ll ask my top eight guys. The way he’s playing, he might be one of them. I’ll ask the vice captains, collectively, and I think we’ll do the best we can to round out the team. We want the guys playing the best.”

• “We had a lot of guys in pretty good form,” Furyk said. “Flip over to Tiger, you look at him because he’s Tiger, and he’s earned a lot of attention. … I loved seeing him play well. I loved seeing him jump to 20th. It’s fun to watch. But we’ll handle him like everyone else.”

• That’s a nice thought, Jim, but considering Woods has already expressed his ambition to be a playing assistant captain, is there really a chance Furyk would tell him no and deal with the awkwardness? Plus, there’s zero chance Furyk passes on Woods’ starpower…do you think any of the vested interests would stand for a healthy Tiger Woods sitting on the bench?