The U.S. Open Golf Championship is set to begin on Thursday and the field that includes Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy are preparing for a wet and slow course for the first round, as a steady rain fell over the weekend and on Monday that knocked some players from finishing practice rounds.
Tiger Woods is heading into the 113th Open at the Merion Golf Club in Ardmore with the chance to end his major drought from 2008 and may add his 15th career major to his trophy case. The last major he won was the Open and that was on one leg and while it has been a number of years since he has won a major, Woods appears back to himself after winning four times on tour this season, more than any other golfer. Woods heads into the tournament after winning the Players Championship and that came after the Farmers Insurance Open, WGC Cadillac Championship and the Arnold Palmer Invitational earlier in the season.
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Woods will be playing in an All-Star caliber grouping for the first two rounds of the major, as he will be playing with the following two players in the rankings behind him in Rory McIlroy and Adam Scott, who is coming into the tournament after winning his first major at the Masters in April. Scott has played twice since winning the championship and he feels that it is better to prepare for big tournaments and that has served him well in the past. Scott had played well over the past year and came in second at the Open Championship before falling to Ernie Els.
The grouping of the three top ranked players was all the headlines when it was released, but since then the dominant storyline has been all about the weather. A tropical storm dropped rain over the weekend and more came on Monday to flood the course. Merion is expected to be a big challenge even for the top golfers as it is a very tight course and the yardage comes into play as there are a number of par-4's on the course. Accuracy will be key from the tee and if players can use the soft greens, there should be a number of birdie opportunities throughout the first two rounds.
The focus of the day will be on that prime grouping and Woods will be the favorite after the way he has played this year and he will be looking for his 15th major championship. He has come close since winning in 2008, including eight top-six finishes in majors and that is more than anyone else on tour. Woods had a bad result in the Players, but historically that doesn't mean much for the Open and now he will take on big names like McIlroy and Phil Mickelson to get the victory.