Peter Byrne / AP

Padraig Harrington, right, and Greg Norman talk while walking up the 18th fairway of Royal Birkdale on Sunday.

The timing of Norman’s rejuvenation was impeccable. We wondered aloud what a major championship would be like without Woods and, as if on cue, we were ushered back onto the PGA Tour circa 1986-1996, when the dashing blond from Australia was the man, not Woods.

At the same time, David Duval was showing flashes of good form and so, too, was Anthony Kim validating all the hype that comes with him. Having never seen a links course, the 22-year-old got around in respectable trips of 72-74-71-75. Ernie Els, if only he could be given a mulligan for those nine inexplicable holes Thursday, might have challenged to win his second British Open, and Rocco Mediate, at least for two days, maintained the good vibes that made last month’s U.S. Open a memorable one.

All of this, of course, is in addition to the weather, which was quite spectacular. There have been days of wind and rain, especially at a British Open, but the gusts and the gales and the bursts of moisture the players encountered this time around was like nothing we have ever seen for four days. It was a remarkable challenge, especially Thursday, and duly noted in my notebook is the fact that a certain Irishman went out in the worst of the junk and came in later with a smile on his face and 74 next to his name.

Dripping wet (and some would suggest dripping mad), Harrington indicated he wouldn’t mind having another shot at Royal Birkdale in such horrendous weather. “I enjoyed the battle today,” he said. “I enjoyed going out there, and it really was a battle.”

The Irishman was good company for four days and his performance provided for a good story in a week that was filled with many of them, Norman’s script arguably being the best.

Would it have been a better setting with Woods? Probably yes, but maybe no. We’ll never know, of course, nor should any of us waste a minute of our time to think about it.

Instead, use your time to consider what should be done with that asterisk.

Golf doesn’t need it.