Hooks & Cuts: PGA Championship

• By Rich Lerner
• Aug 9, 2012 6:50 PM ET

KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. – Experiencing the PGA Championship with enough mobile devices and tracking systems and information-gathering gizmos to get us to the space station, all while Brandel Chamblee fires up bacon and eggs in the villa we’re sharing at Kiawah.

• The threat of a round-wrecking quad always looms with John Daly and true it’s just daybreak at Glory’s Last Shot, but if he should do the improbable and win a third major does he make the Hall of Fame?

• In a parting shot on "Live From" on Wednesday night, I spontaneously threw out the name Carl Pettersson when the question was raised, Will we see another major won with a long putter? 

• This PGA Championship needs a little sunshine and an epic finish to overcome the early negative media vibe on the 90-minute shuttle to and from Charleston.

• If Daly brings the house down, he will have won majors 21 years apart, with only Nicklaus achieving a wider span (24 years: 1962-86) between first and last.

• When Joost Luiten won the Iskandar Johor Open last year we should’ve known better than to discount him as a Kiawah favorite.

• Tom Lehman said the long-putter debate is small potatoes compared to the one the ruling bodies should’ve taken up 20 years ago over the golf ball.

• As long as we’re tossing out preposterous questions, try this. If Daly goes the distance, should Davis Love III consider him for the Ryder Cup? 

• Acquaintance of mine is a major Hollywood agent and star evaluator as well as a 1-handicap golf fanatic. He’s adamant that Tiger is by miles the biggest star in sports entertainment for his ability to captivate, in good and bad times.

• Frank Nobilo said the golf course would favor the bomber and the early leaderboard backs that up with Rory McIlroy and Gary Woodland going deep.

• Chamblee can really cook. Not surprisingly there are no quiet dinners, just a never-ending talk show with great food.

• Euro expert Ken Schofield says Luiten’s a very aggressive player, part of a new wave of young Dutch players emerging from a field hockey-loving nation that’s now high on golf.

• Two scenarios could put just a minor dent in the Olympic ratings freight train: either Daly or Phil Mickelson dueling Tiger down the stretch at Kiawah. 

• The anchored putter’s probably on its last few breaths, but Pettersson could beat it into submission with a win this week.

• Wind will weed out the pretenders from the contenders in the next couple of days.

• One final ridiculous question while there’s still a sliver of hope. What’s the bigger story, Tiger winning his 15th major or Daly winning his third?