Golf: Greens the key at US Open

NEW YORK STATE - Although everyone agrees the rough will be tough at the US Open starting tomorrow, many golfers believe the championship will be won or lost on the small, contoured greens of Winged Foot.

"I think everyone is so wound up thinking about the rough, they do forget about the greens a little bit," Briton Luke Donald said.

"You really do have to think about where you want to position your second shot into the green because the greens are that slopey, usually back to front, which makes it tough. You can't be too aggressive out there."

Two-time US Open winner Ernie Els, of South Africa, compared the challenge of Winged Foot's greens to Augusta National, home of the Masters.

"If you're talking about Augusta's greens, these greens, some of them are smaller. They're much more undulating," said Els, winner of the 1994 and 1997 US Opens as well as the 2002 British Open.

Learning the character of the greens has been a priority for world No 2 Phil Mickelson, who has paid 10 visits to Winged Foot in meticulous preparation for an assault on his third successive major championship victory.

Speaking of his hours spent at Winged Foot, Mickelson said: "Most of them are around the greens, trying to figure out how I want to attack certain holes and trying to get where the USGA might put pins.

"I'm just trying to get a certain feel for the course and most of it has to do with on and around the greens.

"I had to come out and really learn the nuances here because this course has more subtleties than just about any course I've every played -- little rolls in the greens, little rolls in the fairway, little falloffs on the edge of the greens."

Players agreed that Winged Foot would offer a fair test.

"The course is probably the most fair set-up we've seen at the US Open," said Australian Stuart Appleby, a two-time winner this year on the PGA Tour.

"It requires a high quality of shot-making, but nothing unfair. The skill of players will be the deciding factor."

Said Els: "I think all in all, the way it's set up right now is as fair as I've seen in a long time. It's obviously a great layout. The best player will win this week."

American Lee Janzen, another two-time US Open winner with victories in 1993 and 1998, also praised the course.

"The set up is great for this Open. It will challenge every part of your game. It will bring in course management and adversity," Janzen said.

"It's a great test for every style of play and will challenge every facet of every player's game."

- REUTERS