It wasn't too long
ago that as a professional golf season rolled around, chances were that no one
player would completely dominate the major championship scene.
Sure, Tom Watson won five
majors over the first four years of the 1980s, and Nick Faldo earned five of his
six major titles in six seasons from 1987 to '92. The quick-swinging Nick Price
picked up where Faldo left off, reeling in three of the Big Ones in a nine-major
span from the '92 to the '94 PGA Championship.
But from Ben Crenshaw's
emotional victory at the '95 Masters to Lee Janzen's come-from-behind win at Olympic
Club in the '98 U.S. Open, a total of 14 different players wound up hoisting the
major hardware. It was a roster that also included such eclectic names as Corey
Pavin, Steve Elkington, Steve Jones and Mark Brooks.
Oh, and a 21-year-old named
Tiger Woods.
When he captured the '97
Masters by a record score of 270 and record margin of 12 strokes, Woods was just
setting the stage for what has become perhaps the greatest story in the history
of professional golf. Now, just a little over four years later, Woods is the overwhelming
favorite to win an unprecedented fifth-straight major title at the 101st U.S.
Open Championship at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Woods, whose win at the
2001 Memorial Tournament in early June marked his 28th PGA Tour triumph in 100
starts as a professional, will also look to become just the fifth player since
World War I and the first since Curtis Strange in 1988-89 to successfully defend
his U.S. Open title.
His amazing major run began
with a record 15-shot victory at the U.S. Open a year ago at Pebble Beach and
continued with a British Open conquest at St. Andrews in July. Woods' win at the
famed Old Course in Scotland saw him break the major championship record for lowest
score in relation to par (19-under) and, with the 1999 PGA Championship trophy
already on his mantle, he joined golf legends Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player
and Jack Nicklaus as the lone holders of the career Grand Slam. He then survived
a playoff against journeyman Bob May to capture his second PGA Championship at
Valhalla last August, joining Hogan as the only players to win three majors in
one season.
After a shaky start to
the 2001 season in which he failed to win in his first five events (extending
the streak to eight straight without a victory dating back to the end of the 2000
season), Woods came roaring back with consecutive triumphs at Bay Hill and The
Players Championship.
With his game back in full
stride, Woods went on to post an exciting two-shot victory at the Masters, and
at the tender age of 25 became the first player to own all four major titles at
the same time.
A victory this week would
make Woods the first player to capture the season's first two majors since Jack
Nicklaus in 1972. It would also keep alive the possibility of what was once almost
unthinkable -- a player attaining the season Grand Slam.
In his only previous run-in
with Southern Hills, in 1996, Woods capped his telltale rookie season (two wins
in eight events) with a tie for 21st at the season-ending Tour Championship. He
shot a 78 in the second round, still his worst round as a professional, on a day
he learned his father, Earl, was hospitalized for a heart attack.
Southern Hills, designed
by accomplished course architect Perry Maxwell and opened for play in 1936, has
hosted five other majors. Tommy Bolt won the 1958 U.S. Open by four strokes over
a then 22-year-old Player, who was making his U.S. Open debut. Twelve years later,
Dave Stockton captured the 1970 PGA Championship by two from Arnold Palmer and
Bob Murphy, the 1965 U.S. Amateur champion at Southern Hills. In 1977, Hubert
Green survived oppressive heat and a final-round death threat to win the Open
by one shot over Lou Graham. Ray Floyd opened with a course-record 63 en route
to a three-shot victory over Lanny Wadkins in the 1982 PGA, and in 1994 Price
followed up his British Open triumph with a commanding six-stroke win in the PGA
Championship to become the first player since Watson in '82 to win consecutive
major titles.
Although the par-70 layout
at Southern Hills will play relatively short at 6,973 yards, the course will boast
both the longest par-four and the longest par-five in the history of the U.S.
Open. Normally a par-five for the members, the par-four 16th will be played from
the middle tee box, making it a full 491 yards. Because it was originally intended
to receive a short-iron third shot, the green at 16 is one of the smallest on
the course. The 642-yard, par-five fifth hole, 12 yards longer than the 17th at
New Jersey's Baltusrol Golf Club from the 1993 Open, should be a true three-shotter
for every player in the field, including Woods.
Southern Hills is a classic
design, tree-lined and well-bunkered. A stream, which meanders through the front
nine, crosses in back of the green at the 467-yard, par-four second, and may come
into play now that a shaved chipping area has been added behind the putting surface.
The grass has also been cut low to the right of the 12th, a 456-yard par-four,
and approach shots that land there may find their way into a stone-lined water
hazard.
The four par-threes range
in length from 173 yards (the 11th) to 225 yards (the eighth), with only the 175-yard
sixth playing downwind. Five of the par- fours are under 400 yards, so players
that are proficient with a wedge may single out these as their scoring holes.
Should this year's championship
come down to a tight finish, the 466-yard, par-four 18th is a wonderful closing
hole and should provide an exciting stage. Players will probably want to keep
their drives under 300 yards, as the fairway doglegs sharply right and the turn
is protected by a creek. The ideal landing area favors the left side of the fairway,
due to the fact that a player attempting an approach from the right side will
have to contend with a 170-yard uphill shot from a downhill lie.
As with any U.S. Open,
the course set-up always factors into the difficulty of the championship. The
fairways, which will average 27 yards in width, are Bermuda grass, as is the rough.
The club-twisting primary rough is expected to be as high as four inches, while
the six-foot wide strips of intermediate rough bordering the fairways will be
mowed to an inch and a half. The greens are bent grass, and the USGA will have
them running between 11 and 11.5 on the Stimpmeter. As of Monday's practice round,
players were already complaining about the combination of the speed and the treacherous
back-to-front slope of several of the greens, particularly the 18th, where well
struck irons to the center of the green were rolling off the front.
Certainly every golfer
in this year's field would love to be the one to put an end to Tiger's major streak,
and the top of the world rankings is as good as any place to start. Phil Mickelson,
ranked No. 2 behind Woods, has the creativity with his short game to make it around
the tricky greens at Southern Hills. However, if he misses important putts like
he did to lose the Colonial in May, the lefthander will have to wait at least
one more month to capture his first major title.
On the surface it would
seem that Ernie Els, a two-time U.S. Open champion, would be in his element this
week. Although the big South African has five top-10 finishes in 12 starts in
2001, his latest appearances have seen him miss the cut at the Byron Nelson and
tie for 63rd at the Memorial.
Vijay Singh, who missed
the cut at the '94 PGA, the last major contested at Southern Hills, did bounce
back at the Tulsa venue to score top-10 showings in the '95 and '96 Tour Championships.
The winner of the '98 PGA and 2000 Masters (he was the last player other than
Woods to win a major) has finished in the top-six eight times in 2001.
David Duval, who, along
with Mickelson, made the final round of this year's Masters a lot more exciting
than a number of Woods' big wins in the recent past. He seems to have recovered
after missing time this season with an injured wrist, and his second-place showing
at Augusta proved that he can at least give Woods a fight.
No European player has
come out on top at a U.S. Open since England's Tony Jacklin in 1970, so Spain's
Sergio Garcia, Scotland's Colin Montgomerie, Lee Westwood of England, Jesper Parnevik
of Sweden and Denmark's Thomas Bjorn will have to fight an uphill battle against
both Woods and history. Garcia, who captured his first win in the United States
at last month's Colonial, may have the best chance out of the group. He leads
the PGA Tour in the total driving category, which isn't a bad stat to have heading
to the claustrophobic fairways of Southern Hills.
Tom Lehman may be this
year's best bet behind Woods. Three months after he earned a victory at the 1996
British Open, Lehman turned in a dominant performance in winning the Tour Championship
by six strokes at Southern Hills. He has four top-10s so far this season, including
second at the Sony Open in Hawaii, and finished tied for third this past week
in Memphis.
There's also the list of
the usual suspects looking for a second major: Davis Love III, Hal Sutton, Paul
Azinger and Justin Leonard. There are proven players seeking their first -- names
like Jim Furyk, Mike Weir, David Toms, Brad Faxon or even Joe Durant.
However, the fact is they
will all have to step aside if Woods is on his game.
