The U.S. Open Preview II: contenders

The first round of this year's U.S. Open begins Thursday. Here is a scouting report of likely contenders this week, with their most recent U.S. Open records in parentheses.

• Tiger Woods (T-12th): What else is new? Woods is the favourite in every tournament he enters, and the U.S. Open is no exception. Unlike last year's venue Southern Hills Country Club, which took the driver out of Tiger's paws with its dogleg holes, the 7,214-yard, par-70, Bethpage Black will be a bit more straightforward course. Woods is also going for the Grand Slam-winning all four majors in a single season-and is a quarter of a way there after his Masters victory. He has never won a major played on a par-70 course, but that's not such a bad thing-because with Woods, that means he's perhaps due to win one on a par-70. His biggest concern may be keeping the drives on the fairways, but this is a major time and Woods will be ready.

• Colin Montgomerie (T-52nd): Former European No. 1 has been on a hot streak in the last month, having had four straight top-5 finishes on the European Tour. Montgomerie has done well in the past U.S. Opens with second-place finishes in 1994 and 1997. His accuracy off the tee seems tailor-made for this particular major, but his wonky putting has often betrayed him. Two other things he's got going against him are severe disk problem in his back and heckling from American fans, whom Monty will absolutely need to ignore in the pursuit of his first career major. He will turn 39 later this month, and time may well be running out for him. Still, this is one major where he has excelled and his recent hot streak could well culminate with a win this week.

• David Toms (T-66th): His last U.S. Open was forgettable, but this reigning PGA champ has come a long way since that first career major win. In a way, Toms is an epitome of a U.S. Open champion: this reticent star has a steady, fairways-and-greens kind of game that often gets overlooked until he comes out on top at the end. It's hard to stick a darkhorse label to a guy who's third on the money list and sixth on the Official World Golf Ranking, but that's the way Toms himself would prefer- quietly going about his business and sneaking upon the field.

• Retief Goosen (defending champion): Last year's U.S. Open will likely be remembered mostly for how the eventual winner Goosen almost blew it. The little-known South African missed an 18-inch clinching putt on the 72nd hole and had to beat Mark Brooks in the next day's playoff. Since that ignominious putting miscue, this seemingly unflappable golfer has won four times world wide and climbed to fourth in the world ranking. He was tied with Woods going into the final round at this year's Masters, but never seriously challenged and finished three shots back as a runner-up. It'll be interesting to see how Goosen bounces back from that disappointment, as he aims to be the first golfer since Curtis Strange (1988-89) to defend the U.S. Open title.
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