Phil Mickelson is among the favorites at Pebble Beach this week.
Tiger Woods is still the favorite for the U.S. Open beginning Thursday from Pebble Beach in California, but the margin is as slim as could be.
Bookmaker.com has Woods as the 720 favorite, with Phil Mickelson (plus 725) and Lee Westwood (plus 950) right behind.
Woods has had a year to forget and not just because of his marriage scandal and a five-month layoff before the Masters.
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His finishes this year at the Masters (fourth), Quail Hollow (missed cut), The Players Championship (withdrawal) and the Memorial (19th) mean he’s been nowhere near peak performance.
Woods won the U.S. Open the last time it was at Pebble Beach in 2000. His minus 12 score was remarkably the only one under par (winning by 15 strokes). That was his first U.S. Open title and he’s gone on to win two more (2002, 2008).
Now a decade older at 34, Woods returns to Pebble Beach trying to answer some questions. The painful neck injury that made him withdraw from The Players Championship shouldn’t be a big factor. However, he’s trying to find consistency in his swing, and do it without a swing coach.
The course this year looks treacherous, with most players happy to finish at par. The fairways have been narrowed and the greens are fast. There’s also plenty of thick rough to deal with, if the players can keep it out of the Pacific Ocean.
The weather forecast predicts temperatures in the 60’s with little chance of rain. However, wind will almost definitely be a factor.
Mickelson has a lot riding on this tournament as well. He’s never won the U.S. Open as he turns 40 on Wednesday. He’s finished in second place in four of the last eight U.S. Opens. The other four finishes were 18th or worse. He’s a three-time winner at the AT&T National Pro-Am at Pebble Beach.
Mickelson won the Masters this year, but has also had some bad performances like missing the cut at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial. He finished fifth at the Memorial two weeks ago.
A U.S. Open win will make Mickelson the world’s No. 1 golfer for the first time. He can also get there with a second place finish, as long as Woods isn’t in the top-4. Woods has held the top spot the last five years.
Westwood is a 37-year-old Englishman, who has finished no worse than third in the last three majors. That includes a second at the Masters. Westwood has had very little recent success at the U.S. Open except for a third at Torrey Pines in San Diego (2008). He did win in Memphis last week, ended a 12-year drought on the US Tour.
There’s a gap after the ‘Big 3’ on the odds list with Dustin Johnson, Ernie Els, Padraig Harrington and Rory McIlroy all at plus 2500.
Els has twice won the U.S. Open, the last in 1997. Harrington has three majors, but none in this event.
Johnson has won the last two years at the AT&T National Pro-Am, while McIlroy is considered the best young golfer in the game and ready to make a jump as a major winner.
Other top golfers are Jim Furyk (plus 2800), Luke Donald (plus 3000), Bo Van Pelt (plus 3300), Steve Stricker (plus 3300), Adam Scott (plus 4000), Camilo Villegas (plus 4000), Ian Poulter (plus 4000), Paul Casey (plus 4000), Geoff Ogilvy (plus 4200) and Retief Goosen (plus 4200).
Furyk (2003), Goosen (2001, 2004) and Ogilvy (2006) are the three players from that list to win the U.S. Open.