Golf: Tiger can leave driver behind in bid for major

Some are thinking of it as the Popgun Major - but next week's US Open at Merion shapes as the Tiger Shoot.

The Philadelphia golf course hasn't hosted a US Open since 1981, mostly because conventional wisdom decreed that, at 6400m, it was too short for the long-hitting advances made through clubs and balls in recent years. It has five par-four holes of under 400 yards - theoretically at the mercy of the modern power game.

However, the USGA (while admitting that Merion could concede the greatest number of birdies ever in a US Open and that scoring records could be shattered if rain softens the greens and makes them hold shots) say Merion also has some teeth.

It is needle-narrow and will penalise anything which strays from the fairways. There are a lot of fairway bunkers, some of which are also enveloped in rough. The greens are extremely difficult - a lot of approaches will be by wedge but it had better be a good wedge.

It's an intriguing set of contradictions but most think the course is setting up exactly right for Tiger Woods. His most dubious club is his sometimes troublesome driver. There's not much need - some would say no need - to play a driver at Merion and Woods has done well when he has disciplined himself to play within his biggest-hitting capabilities.

One example was just last month at the TPC at Sawgrass, the USPGA's unofficial "fifth major" where Woods won after hitting consistently sweetly off the tee with a five wood. He has done the same in other tournaments - nearly always performing well - and, save for last week's blip at the Memorial tournament (he finished tied for 65th), he is in fine form, winning four times this season already.

He hasn't, however, won a major for five years - he won his 14th career major in the 2008 US Open at Torrey Pines and is still chasing Jack Nicklaus' record of 18 major wins. Merion shapes as a golden opportunity.

Woods will play in a three for the first two rounds, the others being Masters winner Adam Scott and former world No1 Rory McIlroy. That will excite fans even before you consider that the world 1-2-3 combination also throws into the mix New Zealand's Steve Williams, who parted ways as Woods' caddy in less than amicable circumstances. That could test Woods' renowned icy demeanour on the course.

Many players will put away their driver and hit irons or hybrids off most of the tees. Like the first hole. It is a driveable par four with a tight fairway, punitive penalties in rough and bunkers and a highly difficult green. So many may not attempt to drive it and the victor could be a surprise who rids himself of a poor driver and concentrates on going straight off the tee.

If Woods doesn't win, it might be a player with high accuracy off the tee and those with good ability with approach shots from 50 to 125 yards out - and there could be a lot of shots like that at Merion.

That brings into play candidates like Tim Clark (South Africa, in spite of a 79 which saw him miss the cut in the FedEx St Jude Classic warm-up yesterday), Zach Johnson (US), defending champion Webb Simpson (US), the in-form Matt Kuchar (US), Masters winner Adam Scott (Australia) and Britons Luke Donald and Lee Westwood, plus touch golfers like Phil Mickelson, Bubba Watson (both US) and Jason Day (Australia) - all of whom have the shotmaking ability to subdue most courses and certainly Merion - if their planets are aligned.

Logic - though golf often does not follow such a path - tends to suggest a straight hitter will prevail and that maybe a golfer normally regarded as a short hitter. That would rule out former world No1 Rory McIlroy but bring into calculations his fellow Irishman and former US Open winner Graeme McDowell.

Ironically, McDowell was playing the 18th hole in a practice round at Merion this week when his ball landed near the plaque to commemorate the 1-iron Ben Hogan hit to win the 1950 US Open. No one carries a one-iron any more (if they even exist). For many players these days, the shot would have been no more than a six iron.