Hazeltine as host has right to boast

People in my business don't often thank people who run sporting events for profit. I'll make an exception today.

Thank you to the PGA for bringing a major championship to our fair suburbs. Thank you to the Hazeltine National membership and leadership for undertaking the gargantuan task of acquiring, preparing for and pulling off this immense undertaking.

Thank you to Tiger Woods for inflating ratings and interest by leading for the first three rounds. Thank you to Y.E. Yang for having the fortitude to overtake Woods and the grace to appropriately enjoy the moment. Thank you to Padraig Harrington for being so funny, forthcoming and human after good rounds and bad.

Thank you to Minnesota golf fans who packed Hazeltine, surrounding the 17th hole with so many bodies that veteran golf writers were turning to me and saying, "I've never seen anything like this."

The course, the crowds and the story written by Yang -- the former aspiring bodybuilder who started playing golf at 19 -- made this one of the most compelling majors in memory. Here's hoping Hazeltine will be rewarded with more majors in the future, once it has finished tearing up the greens and fairways and building a modern clubhouse.

With the Ryder Cup arriving in 2016, here are a few thoughts, suggestions, criticisms and bouquets to wrap up a wonderful week of golf:

• The course held up well. A winning score of 8 under on a par-72 course is just about right. Hazeltine proved to be long, tough and yet fair.

Nothing is better than an eagle on the back nine of a major championship Sunday. Augusta National has forgotten that at times. Hazeltine should remember.

The one fair criticism of the course setup this week was that other than the reachable 7th, the par-5s generally eliminated any risk-reward decisions and any realistic chance of eagles. Long par-3s and par-4s stress golfers and lead to drama. Long par-5s tend to be simply boring. Who wants to see the greatest golfers in the world play three conservative shots?

• Minnesota golf fans are generally knowledgeable and passionate, but if you yell "You Da Man!" you should be thrown off the course. That phrase wasn't funny the first eight million times we heard it, and unless you're wearing a lime-green leisure suit and driving a Gremlin, you're living in the wrong era.

The same goes for screaming "It's in the hole!" after a tee shot on a 640-yard par 5. Remember, drunks are funny only to other drunks. That's the John Daly rule of golf.

• This is not a personal complaint, because I was spoiled nicely in the media center, but my ticket-buying friends said the food service was mediocre. They complained of poor quality, high prices and long lines.

• Also, with crowds this big, more grandstands are in order. It's impressive that so many fans are willing to sit on the ground for 12 hours to see every golfer hit one shot, but it shouldn't be necessary.

• Let's be honest, a Woods victory probably would have been best for Hazeltine.

Tiger winning would have placed Hazeltine on the list of his major championships, a list that will go down in golf history. Hazeltine would have been mentioned in the same sentence, in this context, as St. Andrews, Augusta National and Pebble Beach.

A Tiger victory would have offered a validation of sorts, as well. If Woods wins a major on your course, then it can be said that your course did indeed identify the best golfer in the world.

This week, though, it just so happened that a former aspiring bodybuilder beat the best.

Yes, that was an homage to the great and fictional Roy McAvoy, for Sunday was the day that a guy with a Tin Cup story beat the greatest golfer in the world.