Wind will be a big factor at Shinnecock Hills

Golf's greatest players will test the swirling breezes of Shinnecock Hills starting Thursday at the 104th US Open, a links course where stars could see their major title dreams gone with the wind.

Accuracy is paramount on the narrow fairways of a 6,996-yard, par-70 layout that opened in 1891. Southern wind gusts prevail on a thin peninsula 3km north of the Atlantic Ocean and 1.5km south of Peconic Bay.

"It's one of the best golf courses in the world," said Vijay Singh, who was 10th here at the 1995 US Open. "Every hole is different. Even par could be winning the golf tournament. It's going to be a tough, grueling week."

Shinnecock Hills offers the look of a links course, with blustery wind, rolling hills, dense deep rough and tricky greens with tightly mown edges that will send errant balls rolling far from the cup.

"The ball is going to roll off the greens, down the ills and chipping is going to be very difficult," warned Corey Pavin, who won the 1995 US Open here.

"If the wind blows like it normally does here, it's going to be very hard to hit the greens and chipping is going to be very difficult. You don't need to do much to Shinnecock Hills. It has held up over time."

Shinnecock humbled Tiger Woods at the 1995 US Open. The eight-time major chamion was an amateur when he played here, injuring his wrist blasting out of the thick rough and withdrawing during the second round.

"My game has changed a lot since then, but the course hasn't," Woods said. "All I know is if the wind blows, over par could win."

This year's winner could become the first US Open champion to finish 72 holes above par since Andy North in 1978 if Shinnecock's ill winds blow briskly.

"The way the greens are, the way the wind blows, it just doesn't lend itself to making a lot of birdies," Pavin said. "Generally the wind blows 15-20 mph and it can blow from any direction. That's the course's defense."

Despite the links-like set-up, Americans have won the three previous US Opens staged here - James Foulis in 1896, Ray Floyd in 1986 and Pavin in 1995. Floyd won at 1-under par and Pavin captured the crown at level par.

No European has won the US Open title since England's Tony Jacklin in 1970, but this edition starts a run of links-style majors that includes next month's British Open at Royal Troon and August's PGA Championship at Whistling Straits in Kohler, Wisconsin.

"The next three majors are all British Open-style, so it's kind of strange," said 2003 Masters winner Mike Weir of Canada. "For me, that's good because I don't have to change my trajectory or ball flight. I already hit it pretty low.

"With all the wind, you know you're going to be scrambling. So your short game has got to be really solid."

Shinnecock, what US veteran Davis Love calls "an icon of the old, classic golf course", forces a variety of shotmaking with uncertain results.

"It brings the bounce of the ball back into the game," Zimbabwe's Nick Price said.

"You have definitely got to be creative," said 10th-ranked American Chad Campbell. "You're not just flying it to the hole. You've got to hit little 8-irons from 40 yards, putt it from 20 or 30 yards off the green.

"The more of that you can do, the better off you'll be."

Beyond just keeping the ball low, versatility is a must.

"It's an every-shot, every-club-in-the-bag, different-conditions-every-day kind of place," said US veteran Scott Verplank, who was 15th here at the 1986 Open and 21st in 1995. "It's a great test of golf."