STRAIGHT MAN: Peter Lonard should be able to afford that ticket back across the pond.
The Aussie joked earlier this week that he had to win to afford the airfare to Germany to see a musician friend play a concert.
Lonard followed rounds of 69, 66 and 72 with a closing 66 to finish at 7-under 273 at the Bridgestone, good for a tie for sixth with Darren Clarke. Lonard had tied for fourth a year ago in Akron.
Asked the secret to his recent success, he cracked: "Maybe I hit it straighter than I used to. Maybe I'm smarter. I don't know, it's definitely not smarter."
DATE CHANGE: The 2009 Bridgestone will be a week later on the calendar, Aug. 6-9. It will still precede the PGA Championship, which will be Aug. 13-16 at Hazeltine.
HE'S BAA-AACK: Josh Stuber, the crunchy-cream pie chef who became a golf celebrity for a weekend, is back working at Firestone Country Club.
Stuber was on the loading dock putting pies in a cart during the third round of the 2006 Bridgestone Invitational when Tiger Woods overshot the ninth green. The ball clicked off the cement sidewalk and then caromed all the way up and over the roof of Firestone's clubhouse.
The ball clanged around on the roof before sliding off and nearly hitting Stuber in the head. He thought someone was making fun of him, throwing a ball his way. After looking around, he picked up the ball and stuffed it into his pocket. Then he hopped in a golf cart and left the course, hoping to cash his weekly paycheck.
Back on the course, tour officials, security people, police and almost everyone else started an in-depth search for the ball. A review of a tape taken from a clubhouse security camera showed a man with a white chef's hat picking up a ball. Someone identified that man as Stuber.
By the time he returned to the course, Woods had taken a free drop, made a bogey to complete a 6-under 64 and took a one-shot lead. He won the next day in a playoff.
Woods later signed the ball for Stuber - "To Josh. Nice catch, Tiger Woods."
Stuber later left his job at the course and worked at a Chinese restaurant but recently returned to the cooking staff at Firestone.
Thankfully, no shots came even remotely close to him on Sunday.
DIVOTS: A year after only one person (winner Tiger Woods) finished under par, there were 26 subpar scores. ... The victory was Vijay Singh's 20th since turning 40, extending his own PGA Tour record (Sam Snead is second with 17). ... It was the fourth time that Singh won a tournament the week before a major championship. ... Singh also became the oldest player - by more than 7 years - to win a World Golf Championship event. ... Paul Casey's 65 was the low round of the day.
