Picking the winner used to be easy in majors — Tiger Woods. But with Woods injured, the U.S. Open could be a cavalry charge to Sunday’s 18th green. Maybe one of the rising European youngsters or another in the recent trend of first-time major winners will raise the trophy. Perhaps it’s another long shot no one imagined.
“Every time you have Tiger in the field you’ve got to think that he’s going to have a good chance,” said Rory McIlroy, who was a final-round meltdown away from winning the Masters. “To have one of the main contenders not here gives the rest of us a little bit more of a chance.”
Life with Tiger was predictable and entertaining. But the U.S. Open’s openness is also exciting. One entrant said 40 people could win it. That’s insane.
“For a while there you had Tiger, you had Phil [Mickelson], obviously Steve Stricker. You really didn’t have a lot of standouts outside of the big two or three,” defending U.S. Open champion Graeme McDowell said. “There’s a lot of quality young players coming through. Dustin Johnson, Bubba Watson, Rickie Fowler, Hunter Mahan. … These guys are quality players who are winning golf tournaments now.”
Mickelson said Woods’ absence is felt. Beforehand, everyone delivered their best effort knowing Woods was somewhere on the course going birdie-birdie-birdie.
“I’ve always felt as though Tiger helped bring out some of my best golf over the years,” Mickelson said. “And even though my record against him may not be the best, it’s helped me achieve a higher level that I may not have ever achieved had he not been pushing me.
“So the challenge now is without him playing his best — or even competing like he’s not this week — is pushing myself to achieve a level of play that is in there without him forcing me to do so. So in that sense it might be a little bit more difficult.”
Congressional’s big Blue Course is always difficult on a good day. Glassy greens, high rough looking like another abandoned foreclosed home in your neighborhood, deep sand in bunkers and many a water shot make it near impossible to survive par.
“There’s something about this U.S. Open setup that we all come here excited to see what lies in front of us,” McDowell said. “It typically, obviously historically, has been the toughest test of the four [majors].”
Who’s the early selection? Anthony Kim would be a nice dark horse pick given his 2009 AT&T National victory at Congressional, but he has played flat-out awful this year.
Instead, Martin Kaymer is the choice because of his precision. The U.S. Open is more about not making mistakes than hitting big shots, and Kaymer’s conservative style can win it.
Examiner columnist Rick Snider has covered local sports since 1978. Read more on Twitter @Snide_Remarks or email [email protected].
