One Year Later, Torrey Lives On at Bethpage

By Vic Williams, Live at the U.S. Open | posted June 17, 2009

A strange thing happened as I stepped foot on Bethpage Black for the first time today. I got a whiff of déja vu. With no ocean in sight (the Atlantic is a good three or four miles south) and many, many more deciduous trees lining the fairways at this public course than there are at Torrey Pines a continent away, there was no mistaking one championship track for the other. But I somehow felt a connection beyond the presence of Tiger (conspicuous by his absence on this final practice-round day), Phil (who did get in 18 holes, amping up the already vocal New Yawk crowd all the way) or the other usual contending suspects, some of whom I'll get to in a minute.

Then it struck me: The weather was nearly a carbon copy of last June's mild, partly sunny days on the cliffs of La Jolla. Even cooler, in fact. Having found New York at the height of its sticky, sweaty summer swelter in several previous June visits, I packed a bunch of shorts, and wore a pair today — along with a cozy vest that fended off chilly afternoon breezes as yet another cold front in a spring full of them made its way onto Long Island.

And it doesn't look like there's a heat wave in the works during this Open week, either. On the contrary, it'll be wet for round one and threatening rain the rest of the weekend. Does that mean we're looking at a shortened 109th version of America's golf championship? No way, folks. This is the USGA. They'll find a way to get 'er done during the year's longest days. And when it's finally in the books, a familiar face — with two healthy knees below it — will hoist the trophy on the Black's uphill, straightaway final hole. That's right, you heard it here first. I'm going out on a limb and predicting Tiger will win the U.S. Open. Call me crazy.

First things first, however, and that means Tiger Woods tees it up tomorrow at 8:06 local time with the other two most recent major winners, Angel Cabrera and Padraig Harrington, on No. 1. Phil Mickelson goes off the 10th tee at 1:36 p.m. with Ernie Els and Retief Goosen. That makes for a groaning feast of 26 majors cooked up among those six marquee players — 14 of them prepared Tiger-style, of course (unless you go by Dan Jenkins' count, which gives him 17 including his three straight U.S. Amateurs).

That's some serious hackin' horsepower, and any of these guys could step up and grab the hardware this year. But it's Tiger's title to defend, and win, and he's in perfect shape to do it. He said it himself in Tuesday's press conference. "You have to have every facet of your game going. You have to drive the ball well. You have to hit your irons well and, at most Opens, you know speed on the greens is usually an issue. Not this year, obviously, it being so wet and soft."

You mean Tiger can be aggressive on every part of what stacks up as the hardest layout I've seen in person (though Torrey comes close)? Not good news for everyone else, and if Tiger gets it going early, then hangs on through the middle rounds and steps on the gas on Sunday, he'll win by 10 shots.

Then again, Mickelson not only has the New York crowd behind him — they embraced him at Bethpage in 2002 and again as he flamed out at Winged Foot in 2006 — he has the added impetus of a spousal request, and this time Amy is more serious than ever. "She would like to have a silver trophy in her hospital room," he said today, "so I'm going to try to accommodate that."

So I'm going way out on a limb and calling this Open much as 2002's turned out: Tiger winning, Phil runner-up. But a few other guys could sneak in there. Here's my sixsome of secondary favorites:

Ernie Els: He joked and smiled while beating baby draws on the range today, and his move looks great. It'll come down to the putter, and if he's hot, can you say "comeback?"

Padraig Harrington: He's played lousy of late after tweaking his swing, but now it's a major, and he's proved over the past two summers that he can turn it up when it really counts.

Paul Casey: He hits the ball straight, can putt on occasion, has that first stateside win under his belt and is suddenly No. 3 in the world. He's got game enough to beat Bethpage, but all cylinders need to be kickin'.

Anthony Kim: The third leg of the California-bred contender contingent, he's been MIA on leaderboards lately and zeroed in why yesterday. "I just haven't been as patient as I need to be on the golf course, and if there's anywhere that's going to test it, it's Bethpage. I'm looking forward to getting back on track, and there's no reason why I can't start that this week.

Henrik Stenson: He played flawless golf at the Players, and has the type of focus and control to double up this week.

Jim Furyk: Again, control is key here, and Furyk is showing the same hints of extreme clubface control he displayed at Olympia Fields in 2003 and as runner-up to Tiger at the Memorial two weeks ago. Plus, he's as tough as the blue-collar loudmouths lining Bethpage's fairways this week. And at the Open, toughness — Tiger-forged or otherwise, under rainy skies or bone-dry sunshine — is what works.

Vic Williams is editor and publishing partner of Fairways + Greens, a bi-monthly magazine dedicated to golf, travel and lifestyle for the West and beyond. He has written thousands of stories on golf and will cover every facet of the game right here, primarily travel but also the major tours, equipment, personalities and more. Contact him at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it