K.J. Choi leads the Open, but Norman and Duval made it a day for nostalgia at Royal Birkdale

At 53, Norman is at the age when ambition isn't so blind. He used to practice for eight hours a day but has long been married to his business, and now he has wooed and wedded retired tennis pro Chris Evert.

They travel the world by private jet, teach each other their chosen country club sport and enjoy a very golden version of the golden years, making Norman's life ready-made for the pages of InStyle, not Sports Illustrated.

And yet there he is near the top of the leaderboard. Norman shot a second straight 70 to take sole possession of the lead for most of the day and keep the improbable dream alive: No longer No. 1 in the world, no longer capable of making his golf game the top priority, he has a third Open title in sight.

"My expectations were almost nil coming in, to tell you the truth," Norman said after bailing himself out with the putter on his last three holes. "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."

While the Shark drew the biggest following, Spiderman delivered the week's most mesmerizing show. Open rookie Villegas took only 23 putts, compared to 34 the day before, and made eight birdies.

All three of the overnight leaders — Robert Allenby, Graham McDowell and Mediate — dropped from one under to two over with three-over 73s.

England's Ian Poulter shot 71 and was at three over along with Fredrik Jacobson (72), Stephen Ames (70), Stuart Appleby (71) and Peter Hanson (72).

Adam Scott (74) and Jean Van de Velde (71) were at 144, four over par and well within sight of the leader, along with Scott Verplank (67), Soren Hansen (69) and Anthony Wall (73).

Norman rode a white-hot putter to his second straight even-par score, and also cited improved fitness and flexibility for his revival. For that he thanked his new wife for their tennis outings three to five times per week.

When Jack Nicklaus won the 1986 Masters at age 46, Norman was one of the victims. He was asked if he felt the game owed him one.

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

Choi, a relentless front-runner who speaks English but whose clubs do most of the talking, will have a lot to say about that.