U.S. Open tees off with a long line of contenders

OLYMPIA FIELDS, Ill. -- As always, there are 156 players at the U.S. Open. Unlike last year, most of them actually believe they can win.

That wasn't the case at Bethpage Black, where only the strong survived on a course built for long hitters. Tiger Woods won by three shots over Phil Mickelson, with Sergio Garcia and Padraig Harrington the only other players in serious contention.

With the U.S. Open set to begin today at Olympia Fields Country Club, there was a feeling in the cool, breezy air in the suburbs south of Chicago that this major championship was up for grabs.

Maybe for a guy like Jerry Kelly.

A two-time winner on the PGA Tour last year, Kelly was hitting a variety of wedge shots onto a practice green when he was asked how many guys could win this week.

"More than ever," Kelly said without looking up.

Is that good?

"It's good for me," he said.

Indeed, the U.S. Open could be just that -- open.

Woods remains the betting favorite, having won seven of the last 14 major championships and proving to be a real stalwart in the U.S. Open. He has won twice in the last three years, at Pebble Beach and Bethpage Black.

A victory would make him only the seventh player to successfully defend his title, and again end foolish talk about a slump.

Woods said his game is not far from where it was in 2000 when he won nine times, three majors and the U.S. Open by 15 shots. His last major championship came at Bethpage, although he won three of his first four tournaments this year.

Other big hitters figure to be factors, too.

-- Ernie Els is a two-time U.S. Open winner who has won four times around the world.

-- Davis Love III is enjoying his best season in 11 years with three victories, including The Players Championship.

-- Vijay Singh, who has been the hottest player -- and the hottest topic, thanks to his anti-Annika Sorenstam comments -- over the last three months. He has five top 10s in his last six tournaments, including a victory in the Nelson Classic.

-- Mickelson, winless coming into the U.S. Open for the first time since 1999, the year he nearly won his first major at Pinehurst No. 2.

Even so, Olympia Fields puts a premium on strategy over power. With its several doglegs and the odd blind shot, the key will be keeping the ball out of the 4-inch rough and hitting middle irons to the right spots on the severely contoured greens.

That's nothing new.

"How many U.S. Opens in the past have been a big hitter's golf course?" Jim Furyk said Wednesday. "I can only think of one."

That would be Bethpage Black. Furyk, ranked 173rd on the PGA Tour in driving distance last year, missed the cut with rounds of 73-80 and was among scores of players who couldn't reach the fairway on No. 10, which required a 260-yard carrying into the wind.

"Length isn't the only answer," said Tim Moraghan, the chief agronomist for the USGA.

"When you ask the players to put all their talents on display, other than hitting the ball long off the tee, you're going to see a variety of players have an opportunity to compete."

Masters champion Mike Weir always believed a U.S. Open would be his best chance to win a major, and a few practice rounds at Olympia Fields didn't change his mind.

"There's obviously a premium on accuracy, as all U.S. Opens are," Weir said. "But you're not beat to death with length. I think you're going to see a good mix of players in contention this week compared to last year."

Where that leads is anyone's guess.

Players are always asked to estimate the winning score, even before they hit a shot that counts. Few of them ever stray far from even par, and for good reason.

Except for Woods at Pebble Beach -- a record 12-under 272 -- the U.S. Open champion has been no better than 5 under since 1994.

"The biggest thing to look at will be green firmness," Mickelson said. "If they start to get firm and fast, there's more contour to these greens than in Opens we've had in the past. In that case, even par is going to be a good score.

"If we have rain, I think guys have a chance to get to 4, 5 or 6 under."

David Duval offered a more dire prediction, saying he could see a winning score as high as 3 over par; in softer conditions, not much better than 2 under.

"You've got to be careful on these greens," Duval said.

Kelly, who has had at least one round at 79 or worse in each of the three U.S. Opens he has played, believes it will take more birdies than usual.

"It's as close to a PGA Tour event than any U.S. Open I've been to," he said. "There's no way the USGA can extreme it up."

With the USGA, that's always a possibility.

Remember the hole location on a slope at No. 18 in 1998 at Olympic Club? Payne Stewart had an 8-foot birdie putt that trickled 30 feet away. Or Southern Hills two years ago, when officials had to make the 18th green slower to keep balls from rolling into the fairway.

Otherwise, there are no tricks to Olympia Fields, which opens up all kinds of possibilities.

"A lot of guys are playing well -- not just Tiger," Mark O'Meara said. "And this will bring a lot of players into the mix."