Tiger Woods ready for US Open

But his chances this year are way better than at the same time last year when he chose to return to competition at tough Winged Foot after a 10-week layoff during which his father Earl died.

Short on confidence and still emotional about the bereavement, Woods shot two straight 76s and missed the cut by three strokes, ending a run of 39 straight cuts made in majors. That streak had included all 37 he had played as a professional.

Twelve months on, the sadness in the world No.1's life has been replaced with the joy and anticipation over the pending summer birth of his first child with wife Elin.

His form has been mixed this year so far, but this time around he is relishing the challenge presented by Oakmont, which is being billed as even tougher than Winged Foot.

"Last year was a complete 180 (degrees) of where I am now in my life. I had not played a tournament since Augusta," he said after completing a practice round at the famed course in the hilly countryside outside of Pittsburgh.

"Last year my father passed away in that time frame and I wasn't quite ready to play until I got to the US Open. Probably not exactly the best tournament to come back in.

"So this year I'm going to be a father shortly, and I think that's a complete polar opposite of where I was last year at this time."

On the subject of having won just the two US Opens (2002 Bethpage and 2000 Pebble Beach) compared to four Masters, three British Opens and three USPGA's, Woods denied that he had a relatively poor record at the event.

But he admitted that the second of the year's four majors did have its particularities that made it difficult for all of the players.

"It's probably the most difficult championship that we face all year, because you're tested from tee-to-green and you're tested on the greens," he said.

"Generally if you're missing one facet of your game, more than likely you're not going to win the championship. You have to have everything going."

When he tees of on Thursday in the company of defending champion Geoff Ogilvy of Australia and the US Amateur Champion Richie Ramsay from Scotland, Woods will be playing competitively at Oakmont for the first time.

But he is complimentary of the sweeping changes made to the course since the US Open was last played here in 1994, notably with the removal of over 5,000 trees to return the layout more to the way it looked in 1903 when it was opened as an inland course with a links feel to it.

"I think it's fantastic," he said. "It opens the golf course up. It gives a better atmosphere to the gallery. You can see more holes. It brings everyome together. Everyone can see across holes, hear things better and see what's going on.

"And also by opening the golf course up, when the wind blows like today, it's really going to blow."

But delighted though he may be with the way the course looks, Woods said he was fearful of the greens which he deemed "the most difficult I have ever played."

"I thought Winged Foot's pretty tough, Augusta's pretty tough, but both course have flat spots. Here I'm trying to figure out where the flat shelf is!"