NORTON, Mass. -- Golf's original Big Three was a triumvirate of players named Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Gary Player, not that full names were ever necessary. Known worldwide as simply Jack, Arnie and Gary, they weren't just the most talented players of their generation, they were the most influential of all-time, ushering the game into the television era and serving as icons long after their playing careers had concluded.
By comparison, it feels silly at best and irresponsible at worst to designate the current trio atop the world ranking as some sort of new Big Three. Don't get me wrong: Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth and Jason Day are big-time talents in their own right, already with accomplished pasts in their young careers and even brighter futures. They just aren't Jack, Arnie and Gary, a point which should remain inarguable.
And yet, that hasn't stopped many observers from dubbing the three 20-somethings who have combined to win five of the past six major championships with exactly that nickname. As if to drive home the point that they aren't worthy of Big Three categorization, so far at this week's Deutsche Bank Championship, McIlroy hasn't broken 70, Spieth failed to make the cut and Day charged into contention only to tumble far down the leaderboard.
That's hardly the lone reason why these three shouldn't be hailed with the same moniker as their predecessors. Even though that makes for a tidy nickname and even though they're the top three right now, the status of the game's elite-level players fluctuates so much that no club deserves to be so exclusive.
Enter Rickie Fowler as Exhibit A.
Fresh off a 2014 campaign during which he finished in the top-five at all four majors -- the first player ever to accomplish that feat without winning any of 'em -- Fowler won this year's Players Championship, which boasts the year's best field, and followed up with a triumph at the Scottish Open, with a strong field in its own right prior to the Open Championship.
Fowler now finds himself in contention yet again, posting three consecutive matching scores of 67 to trail by just a single stroke entering Monday's final round here at TPC Boston.
If he's able to win this tournament just eight days after Day won the first FedEx Cup playoff event, that might not be enough to allow those calling it a Big Three to expand their list -- perhaps such inclusion only comes with some major championship hardware -- but it would at least give them pause for reflection, which is just what Fowler wants.
"I want to sneak in and be the fourth," he said after Sunday's third round. "And there's a few other guys you can probably add to it. The three of them have distanced themselves a bit. But there's a lot of good players right now."
Legendary golfer Bobby Jones once wrote, "Golf is such a curious game and form is so fleeting." In a pursuit as fickle as this, it shouldn't take one or two wins or even an entire season full of them before we should be able to make such definitive proclamations.
On the heels of the Big Three nickname gaining steam, it was Fowler, one of those guys on the outside looking in, who put into perspective what so many seem to be missing.
"Those three guys have probably played the best out of everyone in the past year or two," he explained. "But no guarantee that one of the three are going to win every week. There's a lot of guys that are here and ready to play."
Earlier this year, Fowler shared honors as the PGA Tour's "most overrated" player, as voted by his peers for a national magazine. At the time, he publicly shrugged off the insinuation and simply went on to win at TPC Sawgrass later that week.
This time around, he similarly doesn't appear fazed by any conversation that excludes him from a conversation about the world's best players -- especially one that includes fellow 20-somethings who tend to play their best golf at the biggest events, all just like him.
Don't be surprised, though, if once again Fowler is using it as motivational fuel for his inspired play on the golf course.
This much, he'll admit.
"Yeah, it's definitely been motivational to go out and get to the same level or be on the same level as those guys," he said. "They're playing some great golf. But those are the guys that I want to go head-to-head against and come out on top."
The so-called Big Three have already done their part, leaving the stage open for a Labor Day performance that won't further the narrative. Now it's time for Fowler to prove, yet again, that being overlooked will only drive him further.
