At 8:30pm this evening, Irish time, Shane Lowry tees off in his final round of the US Open at Oakmont Country Club.
Due to weather delays, Lowry did not finish his third round until earlier this morning. Over the four holes, the Offaly man increased his lead from the two shots which it was overnight to four.
If he wins, Lowry will become the third Irish player to win the major. Overall he would be the tenth Irish major winner in the last ten years.
Two years ago, Lowry played in his first US Open - he did not make the cut. A year later he finished tied for ninth. Now he's on the verge of winning it.
For that 2014 tournament at Pinehurst (which was won by Martin Kaymer) Lowry was grouped with Brendon de Jonge and Kevin Stadler - they were derogatorily termed the 'heavyweight' group.
Lowry wrote in his Irish Times column that it was something which he felt made a 'mockery' of him de Jonge and Stadler.
To be honest, I am also annoyed about something.
I don’t mind saying it, but I think it is a bit cheeky of the USGA in making the draw the way they did. I’m with Brendon de Jonge and Kevin Stadler for the first two rounds. Someone’s bright idea!! Put the three big guys together!! I think it is unfair on the three of us. It is definitely not drawn out of the hat, that’s for sure. And I just hope we don’t get stick from the galleries. What they did is making a mockery of the three of us.
I spoke to Graeme McDowell, and he thinks I should say something to the USGA about it.
I’ve always had a bit of extra weight. I have worked on my fitness, but people don’t always see that. I am my own fella and the important thing to me is that all my friends and family know exactly what I do and how hard I work for my career and how passionate I am about golf and doing as good as I can.
At the end of the day, you don’t have to be 75 kilos or 80 kilos and built like a tank to do well at this game.
Having 'fun' pairings at the US Open has been a custom for quite a while - there was also the 'dickhead' group. The heavyweight group is an example of where they probably went a bit too far.
