Michael Vlismas golf
In the same week that Tulsa’s new Miss Firecracker will be crowned, Tiger Woods will light the fuse that is expected to blaze a path through 72 holes of major golf on its way to another explosive impact on sporting history.
The 101st United States Open at the Southern Hills Country Club in Oklahoma from June 14 to 17 is preparing itself to go down as a record fifth consecutive major for Woods.
He amassed the previous US Open, British Open, USPGA Championship and US Masters with apparent ease, and his latest victory in The Memorial is the world number one’s fourth win in his past five starts on the PGA Tour.
Which is exactly what makes talk of why Woods will not win this year’s US Open so intriguing, if not insane.
If there is one thing the US Golf Association detests, it’s the kind of pre-tournament form that detracts from just how difficult their tournaments are.
Woods admitted as much during a recent satellite interview with the media where, when asked if there was any particular shot he was working on for Southern Hills, he answered: “Getting the ball on the fairway. The US Open is always very difficult. You have to shape the golf ball both ways. That’s something that, hopefully, I can be proficient at once I get there.”
True to US Open form, the 6 381m par-70 Southern Hills layout will provide a stern test. The course will boast sloping Bermuda-grassed fairways with an average width of just 25m, lined with rough grown to at least 9cm and clusters of oak trees.
There will be only two par-fives, the first of which (the 596m fifth) not even Woods is expected to reach in two.
The prolific dog legs on the course will test the shot-making skills of the field, while the par-fours are of the most demanding in the game. The most notable of these is the second, described as one of the most difficult holes in the world.
Overall, this a course many professionals like to think of as “claustrophobic”.
Throw in the sweltering Oklahoma heat and some wind at this time of the year, and add to the equation the fact that this is one course with which Woods is really not all that familiar, and you can see just why the organisers fancy their chances.
But if Woods has the form not to be unnerved by all of this, then a man such as Ernie Els has the experience to also not be intimidated. Els’s record in the US Open is astounding, featuring two wins (1994 and 1997), a tie for second (2000), and ties for sixth (1996) and seventh (1993) place in his eight previous appearances.
This should be enough to eradicate the doubt caused by Els’s inconsistent form this year, visible again in his final three rounds of 75-75-77 in The Memorial last week.
“I’ve done pretty well in the US Open so there’s a bit of experience there, which might help while other players may be a bit afraid of the course and how tough it will play,” Els says.
“I know I’m going to have to hit a lot of fairways, using a lot of three-woods and two-irons. If I can put myself in position on the course, then I know I’ll be okay.”
The South African has the calm temperament needed to master a US Open course, and has established himself as the man most likely to get out of trouble on a golf course with the least amount of scars.
“Last year was a major stepping stone for my future. I gained a lot of confidence. I feel I’m getting closer to where my game was a couple of years ago.”
Nick Price, winner of the 1994 USPGA Championship at Southern Hills, and Retief Goosen are the only other Southern Africans exempt for this major.