Todd Hamilton checks in from 2004 with a clubhouse lead at the British Open

Todd Hamilton, Todd Hamilton ... name sounds familiar somehow ... oh, wait! The dude that won the 2004 British Open! What ever happened to him, huh?

Well ... nothing. Hamilton is living proof of golf's one-pure-moment theory, the idea being that at a certain level of skill, anyone can win any tournament ... provided everything falls exactly right.

For Hamilton, that tournament was the 2004 British Open at Royal Troon, where he defeated Ernie Els in a four-hole playoff. It was an astonishing achievement, and it was the highlight of Hamilton's career. (Not a bad highlight, though, right?)

He won the 2004 PGA Tour Rookie of the Year...and then would never win again on Tour. His majors history since then is a string of missed cuts and low finishes.

But on Thursday at the Open Championship, just for a moment, all was right in Todd Hamilton's world again, as he carded a -2 69 and briefly held the clubhouse lead. Can he sustain the momentum? We'd say no, but then we'd have said that in 2004, too.