"Shackleford is tough because he runs every time."

As thrilling as the playoffs are and as frightening as Irene appears to be, my eyes will be on Shackleford's trip in Saratoga's Travers Cup (NBC 5 pm ET), one of the biggest three-year-old races outside the Triple Crown. Jerry Bossert explains that the big guy can lock up the 3-year-old division with a win and even notoriously-stingy-with-praise trainer Bob Baffert compliments Shack, reports Tim Wilkin.

Trainers who are running against Shackleford have nothing but respect. Hall of Famer Bob Baffert watched Coil chase down Shackleford in the Haskell, but he had to fight for it.

"Shackleford is tough because he runs every time," Baffert said. "Dale has done a fantastic job with him and he is tough to get by. In the Preakness, it looked like Animal Kingdom was going to run right by him, and he didn't let him by. He just said, 'No way, Jose. You aren't getting by me.' When Coil got to him (in the Haskell) it looked like he was going to run right by and win by a length and a half. Shackleford is a real good horse."

Jesus Castanon has been riding him in the mornings, which gives him an edge in the karma department.

Here's Shack's final workout and his dirty post-workout rolling around ritual.

"Think about a University of Michigan football game. You could put that many people on this golf course and they would move around just fine."

Gary D'Amato talks to Mike Davis about Erin Hills and he compares this week's U.S. Amateur site with Pebble Beach, Shinnecock Hills and Oakmont, saying, "This stands up with all of them."

He also loves the scale of the place.

"I guess I'd put it this way: If I compare this to, say, Bethpage or Pinehurst, which would be our biggest U.S. Open sites, this makes those sites look tiny in terms of what you can do," Davis said. "It is a huge site.

"This might be the first U.S. Open where we don't have to put a cap on tickets. . . . Think about a University of Michigan football game. You could put that many people on this golf course and they would move around just fine."

Ed Sherman also declares Erin Hills a hit, and notes the setup early in the week was a far cry from last year and has been important in winning over players.

The United States Golf Assn. went fairly easy with the pin placements during the first two rounds of match play, resulting in some low scores. The USGA also is learning about the place. But tellingly, USGA Executive Director Mike Davis told the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, "This is a course we could set up so that 15-over par would win a U.S. Open. I'm not kidding you."

I believe him. I was out there Wednesday afternoon when the wind was blowing 20 to 25 mph. I didn't see many birdies as the players were doing their best to hang on.

"To say it was one of the best match in the 116-year history of the competition would be hyperbole, but it certain was entertaining."

Without television covering the finish, most of us were left to track the all-star U.S. Amateur match between UCLA's Patrick Cantlay and Georgia's Russell Henley via Twitter, and based on the accounts and enthusiasm, it was one for the ages.

Ryan Herrington with some of the highlights:

* Over the course of 21 holes, the two made 13 birdies and two eagles, offset by just four bogeys.

* Three different times they halved holes with birdies, the two shooting matching 68s before going to extra holes.

* Just three times all day did a par win a hole.

"It was the craziest match I have ever been a part of," said Cantlay, a 19-year-old from Los Alamitos, Calif., who'll start his sophomore year at UCLA next month. "If you told me all that stuff would have happened the way it did, I wouldn't have believed you."

Sean Martin said the emotions of the match were summed up by the sight of the normally stoic Cantlay fist-pumping, as caught by J.D. Cuban's camera (above).

Cantlay’s run at Erin Hills looked like it was going to end Thursday. He was 2 down with two to play after Henley holed a 16-foot birdie putt on the par-3 16th. Both players came up short on the par-4 17th. Cantlay holed his straightforward chip, and Henley was unable to match.

Henley found trouble with his tee shot on the par-5 18th and had to hack out of the fescue. Cantlay had just 6-iron for his second shot, two-putting from 20 feet to extend the match.

When Cantlay won the 21st hole, it was the first time he led the match since the fourth hole.

Randall Mell said it was a heavyweight fight.

Walking to the 11th tee, Henley’s nose started bleeding. He looked like he needed a cut man more than a caddie. He played five holes with a napkin stuffed into his right nostril.
“I got hit in the nose twice in high school playing basketball and ever since, when it gets dry, it seems to start bleeding,” Henley said.

This match was everything it was hyped to be even if it felt as if it came too early in the week as a second-round showdown.

Friday's Round of 16 includes another standout match: Cantlay vs. England's Tom Lewis. Bill Nichols notes that in the final 16 are defending champion Peter Uihlein and Dallas's Jordan Spieth.

Couples On Picking Tiger: "He's the best player in the world forever."

An unbylined AP report was the first to report Fred Couples' answer to a simple question at the Boeing Classic: Tiger's one of his two Presidents Cup picks. Here's the exchange:

Q.  A question on The Presidents Cup.  Do you talk to Tiger ever?  You mention that you'd like to see him play.  Where does that stand as far as your thoughts on it?

FRED COUPLES:  Yeah, well, I mean, it stands where I told him that he's going to be on the team.  I kind of told ‑‑ the question came up, and there's no reason for me to wait until September 26th to pick Tiger.  He's the best player in the world forever.  I mean, you guys ‑‑ is he playing well right now, no.  He almost won Augusta three months, four months ago, so you don't do that by playing poor golf.

Jason Sobel shreds Couples for the decision to add Woods and also suspects the PGA Tour is happy with the selection.

By picking Tiger – who ranks smack dab between Kevin Na and D.A. Points at 28th in the current standings – Freddie won’t necessarily afford his team the best chance to win, but certainly ensures the competition will receive more attention than had he selected any of the aforementioned players.

And therein lies the dirty little secret about the Presidents Cup.

While the Ryder Cup is a storied, ferocious rivalry between country and continent, its less embattled younger cousin is more about pomp and circumstance, professional golf’s version of a hit-and-giggle festival at your local country club.

Don’t believe it? Just ask Lanny Wadkins, who once said of the Presidents Cup, "Why would I want to travel halfway around the world to play a bunch of guys from Orlando?"

Farrell Evans also suspects "The Man" got to Couples, but he still criticizes the choice in a letter to the Captain.

I get nepotism, cronyism and all the ways that we help out our friends and family. But what I don't get is why you would pick a guy who has been hurt for most of the year and who has played only eight PGA Tour events and had two top-10s.

Do you want the players to resent Tiger more than they already do? Golf is supposed to be the ultimate meritocracy. So what do you say to Mark Wilson and Keegan Bradley, who have both won twice this year, if you leave them off the team? One of those guys is not going to make the cut.