Rooting hard for Rory today

I want him to complete golfing’s grand slam and have a personal stake in it too

BEND, Ore. - I told my wife last night that I can’t remember the last time I was this excited to watch the final round of a golf tournament.

If you haven’t heard, Rory McIlroy will try to win The Masters for the first time today. If he triumphs, he will become the sixth player ever to complete the grand slam by winning all four of golf’s major championships - The Masters, PGA, U.S. Open and British Open.

This will be McIlroy’s 11th attempt to finish off the grand slam, and he takes a two-shot lead over Bryson DeChambeau and a four-shot lead over Corey Conners into the final round.

You name the outcome and it wouldn’t surprise me. If you said McIlroy will shoot a third consecutive 66 and win by six shots, I’d believe you.

If you said he’ll choke and shoot a 76, I’d believe that too. The demons he’s trying to overcome at Augusta are bigger and more imposing than he is.

Epic is a word that gets overused, but it certainly applies today. Can McIlroy hold off DeChambeau and everyone else and cement his status as an all -time great in the sport? Or will he blow it and forever be known as a Hall of Fame golfer who couldn’t quite overcome some of his mental obstacles, a la Greg Norman.

I really don’t want to see an asterisk attached to McIlroy when we look back at his career someday. Let’s face it, we can’t relate to him as a world class golfer with an unbelievable swing. But we certainly can relate to him when it comes to being a regular old human being because we’ve all dealt with mental issues from time to time that have gotten in our way and prevented us from accomplishing whatever we’re trying to accomplish.

I want him to confront his demons today and tell them to piss off, they’re not going to derail me today. I don’t want the demons to get to him and chuckle mischievously at the 19th hole while McIlroy drags himself to the parking lot with TV cameras catching his every move.

What makes today’s final round epic is that DeChambeau is his closest pursuer and stands out as not only a bomber of the golf ball, he also has a splendid short game and looms as a crowd favorite.

Unlike Rory, Bryson embraces fans at golf tournaments, fist bumping them on his way to the next tee, encouraging and prodding them to get as excited as he is.

But just like McIlroy, DeChambeau is a polarizing guy too since he plays on the LIV tour, taking the Saudi money and spurning the PGA Tour.

For personal reasons, I’m pulling super hard for Rory because I could win nearly $9,000 if certain things happen today.

For starters, I bet $100 on Rory at 6 1/2-1 odds to win before The Masters started. That would put $650 in my pocket. I also bet $10 on him early in the second round at 11-1 odds. That’s another $110.

I’m also in two Masters betting pools. In the $20 pool, you pick three golfers and I have Rory, Patrick Reed and Justin Rose. Rory’s at -12, Reed’s at -6, and Rose is at -5. You add up the three players’ combined score, and the best score wins. I’m not sure how much the winner would get in this pool, but I’m guessing it would be around $500.

In the $50 pool I entered, I know how much the winner would get. There are 600 people in this pool, and the winner receives 25 percent of $30,000, which is $7,500. I have the same three players - Rory, Reed and Rose - in this pool so I’ll be rooting just as hard for Reed and Rose as I will for Rory.

If they all play well, I could stand to win nearly $9,000, at which point I’ll cartwheel naked around my neighborhood and not give two fucks if anyone calls the cops to investigate. I will also happily have a putting green installed in my back yard even though my wife is correct when she says I would use it for one week and rarely use it ever again.

I will publicly boast to everyone who thinks I suck at betting and post photos of my beautiful putting green that was paid for by three golfers who played well at The Masters.

Everyone hates Patrick Reed because he’s a known cheater on the golf course, but I will love him like no other today - unless he fades from contention, then I’ll hate him like everyone else.

All of these things are possible today, and if we know anything about the final round of The Masters, it’s likely to be a topsy-turvy day with eagles and double bogeys galore, putting the leaderboard in a four-hour blender.

Sure hoping Rory comes out on top.