A Pairing of Aces
It'll Be the San Diego Zoo When Throngs Gather to Watch Hometown Heroes

By Leonard Shapiro
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, June 12, 2008

SAN DIEGO, June 11 -- If Masters champion Trevor Immelman was not preparing to play a few hours later, he almost certainly would be among the masses expected to gather around the first tee and down both sides of the fairway at Torrey Pines South on Thursday morning to watch a pairing for the ages in the opening round of the 108th U.S. Open.

The U.S. Golf Association announced last week that Tiger Woods, No. 1 in the world rankings, Phil Mickelson, No. 2, and Adam Scott, No. 3, would play the first 36 holes of the national championship together. It is a dream threesome that also seems likely to create crowd control issues as the golfers make their way around this seaside course.

"I would think a hundred percent of the fans will be following them," Immelman said Tuesday.

At the moment, the health of Woods, winner of 64 PGA Tour events and 13 major titles, remains something of a mystery. He will play tournament golf this week for the first time since he underwent surgery April 15 on his left knee to repair cartilage damage, two days after he finished second in the Masters. He hasn't walked an 18-hole round since the operation, and only time will tell how well his knee will hold up on the 7,643-yard course, the longest ever at a U.S. Open.

Woods was typically cryptic while answering a total of 20 knee-related questions during a 30-minute news conference Tuesday after playing nine holes earlier in the morning. He described himself as "good to go -- a little sore, but not anything I haven't dealt with before. It's feeling better. Come game time Thursday, I'll be ready. Is it fully recovered? Probably not."

Many of his competitors have been saying that Woods wouldn't be on the grounds this week if he didn't think he could compete, and prevail, on a course where he's won six times on the PGA Tour, including the last four Buick Invitationals. He shot 19 under par to win by eight shots here in January.

Asked if he thought Woods was less of a favorite this week than usual, Sergio García said: "Not at all. It's like Big Brown, with a crack [in his hoof] he was still the favorite."

Jim Furyk, Woods's friend and occasional Ryder Cup playing partner, said he thought it would be "difficult to take the amount of time he's had off [eight weeks] to come to a U.S. Open and expect to go out there and dominate a golf tournament as he's dominated golf.

"That being said, anything he does anymore doesn't surprise anyone. Last time he had surgery on his knee and took a whole bunch of time off, I remember him coming to San Diego [in 2002] and whipping the field. So I wouldn't be surprised if it happened again. He loves the golf course. He's played well here, dominated at times. If anyone can do it, he can, because he doesn't play a heck of a lot of events. He can play 15 events and be sharp anytime he tees it up."

Mickelson, who said he's recovered from stomach problems that plagued him last week, also said Woods's injury should not be a factor.

"He's had huge layoffs and come back and won," he said. "I just don't see how it's going to have a negative effect on him. Players in any sport, golf as well, sometimes have to deal with injuries or what have you. I just can't see a better player make adjustments easier than Tiger. I just don't think it will be a problem."

Woods and Mickelson are not exactly close friends, but after years of competing together on U.S. teams in the Ryder and Presidents cups, their relationship is far more cordial than when Woods first began dominating the game in the late 1990s. Publicly, both players take great pains to show mutual respect and admiration, but there is not likely to be much chit-chat or jocularity once they begin their Open treks Thursday and Friday.

Because it's a major championship, the pairing will stimulate their competitive juices, but they also will be inspired by a familiar venue where each has a memorable history.

Woods, whose last Open victory came in 2002, grew up about two hours north of San Diego. He won the world junior title here as a teenager and played the course a number of times during his junior and amateur days. Five of his six PGA Tour victories at Torrey Pines South also came after the course was toughened in 2001 to attract the Open back to Southern California for the first time since Ben Hogan won at Riviera in Los Angeles in 1948.

Mickelson lives in nearby Rancho Santa Fe and grew up not far from Torrey Pines, where he played many of his high school golf matches. He's won the Buick Invitational three times, although those victories came before the Rees Jones makeover. He has not had much success in the event since, including a missed cut the first time the refurbished venue was used for the tournament. His best score on the South course since the makeover was a 69, and his scoring average has been 71.6.

"I don't feel any added pressure" playing in his home town, Mickelson said recently. "But I certainly feel an added desire because I think about how cool it would be to win a U.S. Open on a course I grew up playing."

Mickelson is 0 for 17 in the U.S. Open, including four second-place finishes. The one that may still haunt him came in 2006 at Winged Foot in the New York suburbs, when a double bogey on the 72nd hole cost him a fourth major title. In his eight majors since, Mickelson has missed two cuts and had only one top 10 finish, tying for fifth at the Masters in April.

Still, the prospect of having the Open contested on his home course has been on Mickelson's mind for years, and he has been preparing diligently in recent months. He has played at least a half dozen practice rounds before this week, often showing up in shorts, pulling his clubs out of the car trunk and carrying his bag, just like most of the regulars. He also takes notes, particularly on the course's treacherous multi-tiered greens.

"For me personally, this tournament means a lot to me growing up here," he said. "It's something we've dreamed about."

Mickelson and Woods said they had no problem with the USGA pairing them in the same group along with Scott, almost an afterthought who will be playing despite a broken right pinky he slammed in a car door three weeks ago.

"I like it," Woods said. "I think it's exciting for the fans, exciting for the players. We're all looking forward to it. I haven't heard one negative thing about it. Once you tee off, you're in your own little world. You don't care about what anyone else is doing. You have enough issues going on out there trying to play a major championship venue."

Said Mickelson: "I think it's awesome. I wish we had it more. I haven't in the past liked the way the PGA Tour puts us on opposite ends of the draw every week. It's great that a major championship pairs us together because usually one end of the tee times has an advantage over the other. For us to be on the same end makes it a fair championship. I think we enjoy playing with each other."