U.S. Open » Five to watch

Published June 17, 2009 4:00am ET



Tiger Woods

Tiger cured his driving woes in winning at the Memorial. He seeks 15th major and to join an exclusive club — Willie Anderson, Bobby Jones, Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus — with four Open titles.

Phil Mickelson

Beloved in NYC, this will be an emotion-filled week for Lefty after wife Amy’s breast cancer diagnosis. He has been in the top 10 in seven of his last 14 Opens, but has no wins.

Geoff Ogilvy

Opens often come in twos (Goosen, Strange, North, Janzen, Els, Stewart) so why not Ogilvy? He has the length and the nerve for Bethpage and two quality wins this season. 

John Merrick

Elephant Man is 15th in driving distance, a requisite for Bethpage. Merrick doesn’t have a PGA Tour win, but he has six top 10s in the last two years. He was sixth in the 2008 Open and 2009 Masters.

Paul Casey

No European has won the U.S. Open since Tony Jacklin (1970). Does Casey, now ranked No. 3 in the world, have the stuff to break the curse and claim his first major?