Tiger Woods is
a marked man at the 101st U.S. Open. Marked by his achievements and targeted as
the man to beat by the 155 other players and a world of mesmerized golf fans.
The 25-year-old Woods has a stranglehold
on golf's greatest championships, holding all four titles, after winning his second
Masters in April.
And victory at the fast-running Southern
Hills layout would move the runaway world number one halfway to another unbelievable
achievement -- an in-season Grand Slam sweep of the majors.
While the likes of David Duval, Phil
Mickelson, Sergio Garcia, Ernie Els and others in the field will have their sights
set on Woods at Southern Hills starting on Thursday they don't sound so sure of
their chances against him.
"We all know that Tiger might very
well have a great chance to win this week," said Duval, who finished second to
Woods after a fierce duel down the last nine at Augusta National.
"I think you come to the realization
that you have to play very well and nearly mistake-free and expect to be battling
with him come Sunday."
World number two Phil Mickelson also
pressed Woods over the last 18 holes at the Masters but like Duval fell short
in his quest to notch his first major crown of his career.
"That was a final round that I did
learn a lot from. I came very close," said the 30-year-old lefthander.
"I was within a shot with three holes
to play and made a bogey on 16 that really hurt my chances. But I was able to
hang in there, despite a couple of mistakes, a couple of missed short putts, and
shots that I feel I gave away."
Muffing short putts has been Mickelson's
undoing in several tournaments this year as he has frequently placed himself in
position to win and has just one 2001 Tour title to his credit.
Making loose mistakes is just the thing
to sabotage a challenge, according to double U.S. Open champion Els.
"Even Tiger is going to have a missed
club every now and again," noted the South African. "But what he does better than
the rest of us, is he misses it on the right (proper) side.
"Where we might go and try to push
the round, try to go at a flag you shouldn't go at and miss it on the wrong side
and end up with a double or even worse. I think that's why Tiger is beating us.
He misses in a spot where he can get up-and-down."
Garcia, coming off his first U.S. Tour
win at the Colonial and a tie for second behind Woods at The Memorial, is brimming
with confidence but knows the margin for error is tight.
"I think if you want to win a tournament,
you have to play really well and you have to make very few mistakes," said the
21-year-old Spaniard, who battled Woods to the bitter end at the 1999 PGA Championship
at Medinah.
"The way to overcome Tiger is to be
perfect. And if not, congratulate him."
UNFAZED
Woods, who won last year's Open at
Pebble Beach by 15 shots, not surprisingly, is unfazed by the pressure and entirely
focused on the mission at hand.
"I'm not trying to win five. I'm trying
to win one," said Woods, who has won five of his last six tournaments.
"What I've accomplished in the past,
that's great but it doesn't hit any golf shots for me this week," added Woods.
It may not hit his shots, but it might
affect the shots his rivals hit.
Woods recently echoed the major championship
mantra as sung year after year by his professional idol, Jack Nicklaus, who is
missing from the Open field for the first time in 44 years.
"Playing major championships is probably
the smallest field you play in all year long because of the conditions. And the
fact of what tournament it is, guys are talking about it, thinking about it. It
is a major championship.
"I think that puts so much pressure
on the guys that they start thinking about a lot of things, other than just actually
going out there and hitting golf shots."
Southern Hills requires a wide variety
of golf shots. It is set up as a par-70 over 6,973 yards with the longest par-four,
the 491-yard 16th, and longest par-five, the 642-yard fifth, in the history of
the U.S. Open.
But while distances can be challenging,
the Perry Maxwell layout also requires an abundance of finesse and creative shot-making
to negotiate the assortment of doglegs and fast, contoured greens.
