Tiger's new patience might be key

Tiger Woods will be able to pull out the driver on the relatively forgiving fairways at Pinehurst No. 2. He'll chip with a delicate and effective 3-wood around the famed domed greens.

What makes Woods a favorite to win his first U.S. Open, though, may be the quality those who run the Open cherish most: a newfound patience born of past Open disasters.

"I've learned from my own mistakes," Woods said before a practice round Tuesday. "Most importantly of all is I'm not afraid to go out on the golf course and apply what I've learned."

On a course that sets up perfectly for his game and on a streak that could renew the Tigermania of his rookie season, Woods seems filled with a quiet confidence as he tries to win his first major since the Masters two years ago.

His chances were good even before David Duval burned himself last week. They may be even better now that the U.S. Golf Association decided to trim the rough to a more manageable three inches.

"I thought the rough would be higher, the fairways be narrower," Woods said. "The golf course is playing a little more friendly than I thought it would. I like it a lot."

Coming off two straight victories capped by a dazzling short-game show on the final day of the Memorial, Woods believes he is now playing the best golf of his life.

That's mostly credited to increasing maturity at age 23 and a series of swing changes he and instructor Butch Harmon made to help him control the ball better without sacrificing distance off the tee.

"When I do miss it, it's not two fairways over like it used to be," Woods said.

Woods, who rarely used his driver at Olympic in last year's Open, will have ample opportunity to take it out the bag at Pinehurst, where the fairways will hold a drive and the rough isn't deep enough to prevent shots to the green.

That will help set up short iron shots that Woods can fly in higher than other players. That, in turn, makes it easier for him to attack pins on greens where ball placement is critical if a player expects his ball to stay on the green.

"The golf course from tee to green is very simple," Woods said. ``It's around the green where it becomes complicated."

More important than tinkering with his swing, though, may be an adjustment in attitude to a tournament that tends to reward more methodical golfers who play the ball down the middle and have a light touch around the greens.

In his first U.S. Open as a pro, Woods stubbornly kept trying to hack the ball out of the deep rough lining the fairways at Congressional. In his second, he was too aggressive on the greens at the Olympic Club, knocking putts way past the hole and four-putting twice.

Making birdies in a tournament in which the winner has never been more than 8-under is not as important as avoiding the double bogeys that wait at every turn. Woods has had his share of those, pushing his scores to a combined 34-over-par in 13 Open rounds.

"I'm still learning how to play the game," Woods said. ``I recognize that. But I've come a long way as well."

Ironically, a key to Woods' success this week might not be his length or his iron play.

It may come from a shot he uses that few other players attempt -- a 3-wood from around the fringes of the green that pops up a bit more than a putter, then rolls along the green.

If Woods has confidence in the shot, that could be critical. On Tuesday, players hit irons of all shapes and sizes as well as putters from shaved areas off the green in attempts to figure out what would work.

"I rarely ever practice the shot, really," Woods said. ``But this week I am because I'm going to use it a little bit more."

AP