"This is a phenomenal golf course. I think this is good enough for a major."

Liberty National has fans!

Granted, one of the guys wears pink pants with pride and the other looks to Howard Hughes for life inspiration, but at least two guys won't get fined this week.

Steve Elling reports. Padraig first:

Harrington was asked whether a monkey wrench had been thrown in the FedEx Cup series' week because a course picked mainly because of its panoramic views and proximity to Manhattan had been pelted by bad weather that grounded the aerial blimp. Yet Harrington unexpectedly sprang to the defense of the three-year-old track.

"This is a phenomenal golf course," Harrington said, unprompted. "I think this is good enough for a major. This is a major golf course we are playing here, this is a superb test, really puts us right on the limit.

"This is exactly what we should be playing. This is an excellent golf course. It may look good, but the actual layout of the golf course, it's a real test out there. And you know, at all stages, you've got to pay attention. Absolutely."

And...

Maybe his membership certificate -- initiation dues here are $500,000 -- is in the mail or something. Then Ian Poulter, another Ryder Cup player who is known for expressing the unvarnished truth, didn't exactly pooh-pooh the notion.

"Yeah, a few of the greens might be a tiny bit severe," Poulter said. "But with a couple of little tweaks, which I'm sure they will do in time, it's a hell of a golf course."