Tiger Woods keen to silence critics

The last time Tiger Woods played the US Open at Shinnecock Hills it ended in heartbreak when he was forced to withdraw after injuring his wrist trying to hack out of the knee-high rough. That was 1995 when Woods was an amateur and his playing partners were defending US Open champion Ernie Els and British Open champion Nick Price.

Ten years later, Woods is world number one, eight Majors to his name and firmly tipped to collect his third US Open title here this week.

But Woods is struggling, in his terms, to sort out swing problems that make him far from the shoe-in he was in 2000 and 2001 when he played a level of golf never before seen.

That, plus the rolling fairways and super hard greens of Shinnecock, make the 104th US Open one of the most open in modern history.

But more importantly the "Tiger fear factor" has gone.

Els, Phil Mickelson, Vijay Singh, Davis Love and Sergio Garcia arrive here with a new-found confidence.

For Els, his victory two weeks ago at the Memorial when he held off a late final round from charge by Woods has him eyeing a third US Open championship and a chance to make up for the bitter one-shot defeat by Mickelson at the Masters in April.

"It was good to play good golf again," said the 34-year-old who would replace Woods as the world number one this week if he wins here and Woods finishes worse than sixth.

"The way I ended Memorial - that's the way you want to win golf tournaments. That was obviously a goiod confidence boost," he added.

For Mickelson, ridding himself of the best player to never have won a major has given the 34-year-old a new stride in his step.

"I want to try and build on that Masters victory. It was a wonderful, exciting moment for me and I don't want it to be the pinnacle per se.

"I want it to be a kind of steppingstone to playing at that level more often in majors and having more chances," explained Mickelson.

"To me it's just amazing what has changed in the last two months. We go from 'Will he ever win a major?' to 'Is he going to win a Grand Slam?'" he added.

Garcia arrived here also on a high.

The 24-year-old, who has been going through swing changes for the past 18 months, collected his second Tour victory of the year when he beat Ireland's Padraig Harrington in a sudden death playoff at the Buick Open on Sunday.

His new-found confidence has the Spaniard poised for his first major title.

"I don't want to say favourites but I feel like I'm playing nicely, so for my own confidence that is always good," said Garcia.

He is also helped that Shinnecock has more of a look of a British course that a US one.

"It kind of has a European look to it, although we're in New York, Long Island. It feels like we're back in the British Isles.

"It's an absolutely links course, even the grass and everything looks the same as in the British Isles. It's going to be a tough week but it should be fun," said Garcia.

Singh, who has slipped to number three in the world rankings behind Woods and Els, has the game to succeed here this Sunday.

In 1995, he finished tied 10th here and has chalked up five top-10 finishes in 10 US Open appearances.

"This is the year I feel I'm most capable of winning a major because I feel very comfortable in my golf swing, the way I'm playing and my mindset," Singh said.

"I'm not worried. I'm not excited. I'm not nervous. I'm eager to go out and perform well. I'm playing as good as I've ever played."

But an upset Woods, who has now gone seven majors without a win, is determined to silence his critics here this week.

He has had enough of television pundits and former players analyzing his swing and telling him where he is going wrong.

"Am I tired if it? Yeah. We laugh about it on Tour how these guys think they know everything but they don't," said Woods.

Tiger is determined to bite back and this week gives him the perfect stage.