GOLF

MAJOR MATCHUP

Could this year's Open finally deliver a dream Sunday showdown?
By Jason Sobel

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The biggest challengers to Tiger Woods in major championships have been Bob May and Chris DiMarco. In Phil Mickelson's Grand Slam wins, Ernie Els, Thomas Bjorn, Steve Elkington and Tim Clark have finished in the No. 2 spot.
For the past decade-plus, Woods and Mickelson have not only been golf's most talented players, they've also been
the sport's biggest draws. Yet they've finished 1-2 in a major just once, at the 2002 U.S. Open in Bethpage. That year, Tiger had things well in hand by the time Phil made his Sunday move. How could that story line change when the U.S. Open returns to Torrey Pines? Let us count the ways.

COURSE RECOGNITION
No players in the 156-man field will be more familiar with the South Course than Woods and Mickelson, who grew up playing junior golf in Southern California and have logged triple-digit tournament rounds at Torrey Pines. "We all love to play Torrey," says Mickelson. "It's a fun, hard test of golf." Here's guessing there won't be many other players calling the beastly venue fun.

THE LONG RUN
Used to be, longer hitters had the edge at Augusta, while shorter, straighter players could tame Open tracks. That's changed of late, as evidenced by Open wins by bombers like Angel Cabrera and Geoff Ogilvy. Expect more of the same this year, as Torrey will measure 7,643 yards, the longest in Open history. That's good news for Woods and Mickelson, who annually rank among Tour leaders in driving distance.

OPEN FOR BUSINESS
Tiger hasn't won a U.S. Open since 2002—his longest drought in any major—and Phil has yet to win one. But they're both former U.S. Amateur champs, and their Open records are among the best in the biz. Woods has finished in the top three five times, including wins in 2000 and '02, while Mickelson owns four second-place finishes and three other top 10s since 1995.

THEY'RE JUST THAT GOOD
With his recent victory at Colonial, Mickelson cut Woods' lead in the World Golf Ranking to less than half of Tiger's point total. But the headline here is that Mickelson leads No. 3 Ernie Els by nearly double Els' points total. This duo's dominance could boil down to a classic back-nine battle come June 15.

TORREY STORIES

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Kelly Slater, SURFER
You have to hit the fairway because the rough is a nightmare. There are lots of elevation changes and the greens are tough to read. Then there's the view: If the waves are going off, who wants to be on the golf course?

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Jay Feely, Dolphins
I love Torrey Pines. It's a real risk/reward course, especially on 18. I hope the Open comes down to the final group, with someone making an eagle. Plus, there's a nude beach nearby that can be very distracting.

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Trevor Hoffman, Padres
The rough will be much tougher, which will make it pretty difficult, but it should be drier than the Buick, so they'll get more roll. The wind on the back side along the coast will be a challenge no matter what.

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Nate Kaeding, Chargers
I played about three weeks ago and the rough was impossible. You gotta trip on your ball to find it. I took a few hacks from the rough and advanced maybe 10 yards. There are bare spots out there because of me.

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Trent Dilfer, NFL
Torrey Pines is the hardest course I've ever played, and that was at less than 7,000 yards. They're playing it at 7,600. Number 6 will be a par 4, which is ridiculous. I can't comprehend how they're going to make many birdies.

IN THE PINES

by Ron Kroichick

On a cloudy day in January, following the third round of the Buick Invitational, a caddie peered at the leader board and muttered, "Tiger might win the Open by 25 shots." It was an understandable moment of hyperbole, given that Woods was well on his way to an eight-shot victory at the Buick, and the U.S. Open was coming to Torrey Pines in June.

But before doing the logical math (Tiger + Torrey = U.S. Open triumph), remember that the South Course for the Open will barely resemble the South Course for the Buick. The fairways will be much firmer; the ryegrass rough will be replaced by mostly Kikuyu grass; and the greens will be much faster. "It will be totally different," Woods says.

Nobody understands this better than the USGA's Mike Davis, who's in charge of the Open setup. Contrary to recent history, the rough will not be especially deep—2 1/4 inches for the first cut, 3 1/2 inches for the second. No, the USGA brass is not turning soft. It's just that officials are confident that the track's record length (7,643 yards) and firmness (rain is unlikely in June), plus the tendency of Kikuyu grass to grab clubs, will ensure sufficient difficulty.

Davis expects the first cut to penalize players less than the Buick rough did, but the second cut will be "more penal" than it was in January. Still, the '08 Buick does serve as a helpful '08 Open preview. Players who historically sparkle at Torrey—Woods, Mickelson, Charles Howell III, Luke Donald, Jose Maria Olazabal—should contend, as might Ryuji Imada, Stewart Cink and Rory Sabbatini, who finished nearest Tiger in January. Another historical guide: The Open was last held at a regular Tour venue in 2000, at Pebble Beach. Woods won the AT&T with a final-round comeback in February, then steamed to an historic 15-shot victory in June. Maybe that caddie wasn't so far off after all.

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