Favourite Tiger takes 'wait and see' approach
Tiger Woods is still the favourite for this week’s US Open despite an unprecedented nine-week lay-off.
Woods has not played competitively since the final round of the US Masters following the death of his father Earl, although he has already practised over a “brutal” Winged Foot course.
The world number one is 5/1 to claim an 11th major title in New York, although he admits he has no idea how he will perform when the 106th championship gets underway on Thursday.
“I’ve never had to experience anything in life like this and never had a nine-week lay-off before, so we’ll just have to wait and see,” he admitted last week.
“Hopefully, my game will be sharp. No matter what happens, it won’t be from lack of effort on my part.
“I can tell you this, the course will play a lot harder than it did for the USPGA Championship in 1997. I love the place, but it’s the hardest members’ course I’ve ever seen.
“The greens are brutal. They have a lot of undulation and you have to try to keep the ball below the hole. And it’s long. You can hit driver on just about every hole you want. It will be quite a test.”
Phil Mickelson is second favourite at 6/1 as he attempts to win his third straight major title, following victories in the 2005 USPGA and a second green jacket at Augusta earlier this year, and fourth major overall.
Vijay Singh’s victory in the Barclays Classic at nearby Westchester on Sunday sees the Fijian third in the betting at 14/1, with two-time former US Open champions Retief Goosen and Ernie Els both around 20/1.
Els withdrew from last week’s event after struggling with the knee injury which required surgery in the middle of last season.
The South African said: “I didn’t have a great weekend at Memorial and I felt my knee a little bit so I thought I might as well take a week off.
“It’s one of my favourite weeks but it’s quite a hilly course and I just felt it was in my best interests to take the week off to prepare for this week.”
At 7,264 yards and with penal rough and undulating greens, Winged Foot is set to provide a typically tough US Open test, and Els added: “It’s a tough course. It’s the US Open. The rough is very tough this year. The course is longer so it’s a really tough setting.”
New Zealand’s Michael Campbell, who will throw out the first pitch at a New York Yankees baseball game this evening, is given little hope of retaining the title.
He came through qualifying last year on his way to victory at Pinehurst, and is as high as 100/1 with several bookmakers.
Luke Donald is the most fancied of the European contingent, followed by Sergio Garcia and Order of Merit leader David Howell.
