I’ve seen the Omega commercial so many times at this point that I find myself unable to contain myself from full volume “STANDING IN THE HALL OF FAME” outbursts at random moments of conversation. On the links this morning, we turned it into a joke for whenever one of us hit a wayward shot. Instead of the standard #TourSauce club point and a “FORE” yell, it was simply a “STANDING IN THE HALL OF FAME” yell, followed by a slow motion tee grab.

  • We’re not journalists here at NLU, and we don’t even pretend to be. We’re fanalysts, and our rooting interests are rarely a secret. So let me just say what you are all thinking, and you know we’re thinking: I don’t want Bernd Wiesberger to win the PGA Championship tomorrow. I’m sure he’s a nice guy, and a fine player on the Euro Tour, but any other story would be better than Bernd Wiesberger winning the “STANDING IN THE HALL OF FAME” (soooo sorry I can’t control it).
  • Rory leads at -13, but raise your hand if you think what we’ve seen so far is #PeakRory. He’s shown flashes of #PeakRory (particularly the finish on Saturday) but he’s winning with his B-game right now, and that has to be terrifying to the rest of the field. I despise, and I mean absolutely despise (not quite Omega level, but close) when people go straight for the Tiger parallel, but if Rory wins on Sunday (assume this for the rest of this bullet), we’re approaching some scary levels. Tiger won his 5th major at the age of 24 at Valhalla. A win for Rory would be his 4th at the age of 25. His last two major wins would have been at Royal Liverpool and Valhalla. Tiger was victorious at both venues the last time these courses hosted majors. Rory ain’t winning 19 majors, but before the sun sets tomorrow, someone is going to start that conversation. I promise.
  • Rory and Rickie actually has a chance to materialize as a legitimate rivalry. The media will point to wins as the end all be all of the measurement of a player, no matter what their age or what stage their career is in, but regardless of what happens Sunday, what Rickie has done in the majors this year is indicative a true next level leap. Only Jack and Tiger have finished top-5 in all majors in a calendar year…. think on that! Today’s media is obsessed with who lifts the trophy, and while that’s what matters the most, to consistently beat 99% of your peers in the biggest tournaments of the year puts you in Patrick Reed “legends of the game” territory. If you’re asking me to root for a storyline, you’re gonna find me “STANDING IN THE HALL OF FAME!” son of a bitch….
  • Phil! He’s three shots back, but a few front nine birdies and we’re going to have our best major storyline since… well, since Phil went nuts and stole The Open last year. Sunday is going to be sick no matter what, but THIS GUY (Gruden voice) has a chance to take it to a HALL OF FAME level (OK that one was intentional). I expect some some extreme swashbuckling from Lefty tomorrow.
  • Jason Day shot 2-under today and made it look like a struggle. He’s very far from out of it, and the 26 year old is more likely to win a major in the next 3 years before he turns 27 than he is to not win one. I felt like he wasn’t happy with a single shot he hit, missed every putt he looked at, and he still shot 69.
  • The Oosthuizen (four years after your first major title and I still have to google how to spell your name… we’re gonna need some more consistency out of you, Louis)-Ilonen-Palmer-Stenson group at four back is as far down as I’ll go looking for potential winners. And the only reason I think that any of them could win is I feel like that low number is still out there. A comeback from this far down with this many big names ahead of you could leave you “STANDING IN THE HALL OF FAME”

My Rooting Interest Power Rankings:

  1. Rickie – I’m ready to see him take the leap from contender to major champion. He’s the hope for the future of American golf.
  2. Rory – If he was an American, I’d probably have him at #1. I enjoy rooting for greatness, especially for such a likeable character. It’s not an understatement to call him an ambassador for this generation of golfers, and it’s OK to say that without making the inevitable Tiger comparison.
  3. Phil – You know it’s a great leaderboard if Phil is ranked this far down on a list of rooting interests.
  4. Day – Would be a lot higher if I had followed what I said in The Open Championship preview (“Just going to bet him in every major until he wins one”). The dizziness that he WMD’d from in the Bridgestone got in my head, and he slipped under the radar. Regardless, his major championship run throughout his 35 years on this planet (seriously how is this guy still 26) is still somehow understated.

Enjoy the last major championship round for the next 242 days. The 2014 season has been a disappointment for the most part, but the major winners we’ve gotten so far have at least been worthy (yes, even Gerry earned it) of their titles. Give us one more epic day, and maybe we’ll forget the fact that

“STANDING IN THE HALL OF FAME!”