108th U.S. Open

Along with the traditional hype surrounding the United States Golf Association’s premier event, this year’s U.S. Open has set the stage for a heavyweight showdown between the world’s top two players, as well as a potentially unbelievable comeback story.

California born-and-raised fan favorites Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson — who also happen to be the No. 1 and No. 2 ranked golfers in the world — will be paired together for the first two rounds on a course where Tiger and Lefty have won a combined nine PGA Tour events.

The historic pairing, which Mickelson called “awesome,” is a rare event for the sport’s most dominant players, especially under the major championship circumstances.

This will be just the 22nd and 23rd professional rounds that Tiger and Lefty have played together, and only the fourth and fifth rounds paired together in a major championship — with the first two rounds of the 2006 PGA Championship (when Woods was the reigning British Open champ and Mickelson was the reigning Masters champ) and the third round at the 1999 U.S. Open at Pinehurst Country Club, where the late great Payne Stewart ultimately won in the rain, ahead of Mickelson (2nd) and Woods (3rd).

The top two players in the world will be joined by No. 3 ranked Adam Scott. The young Australian will be fighting through a broken little finger on his right hand, which was injured in a car door roughly three weeks ago.

But Scott, like golf fans everywhere, will be focused on Tiger — who has won six times at Torrey Pines, including the last four straight events he has played at the course — and Lefty — who is a San Diego local legend with three Torrey Pines victories in the bag.

A public course which opened in 1957, Torrey Pines was designed by William Bell and subsequently redesigned — or “Rees”-designed — by Rees Jones in 2001. The southern California golf course, which hangs on cliffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean, is a familiar venue, as it annually hosts the Buick Invitational.

In fact, this will be just the sixth time in history that the U.S. Open will be played at a facility that also hosts a PGA Tour event in the same season — 1948 at Riviera Country Club (won by Ben Hogan), 1972 at Pebble Beach (Jack Nicklaus), 1982 at Pebble Beach (Tom Watson), 1992 at Pebble Beach (Tom Kite) and 2000 at Pebble Beach (Woods).

Although the Buick Invitational track record of Woods (winner in 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2003 and 1999) and Mickelson (2001, 2000 and 1993) has been well-documented, it is worth noting that five of Tiger’s six wins have come since the course was redesigned by Jones, while none of Lefty’s victories came on the new-look layout.

Since 2002, Mickelson has a 71.68 scoring average on Torrey Pines’ South Course, while Woods has a 69.19 scoring average — aided by the 19-under 269 Tiger shot during his record-breaking eight-shot rout at the Buick (Jan. 27) this year.

But Tiger’s Torrey Pines success, along with his 13 major championships and 64 career PGA victories, is less significant than the health of his surgically repaired left knee. Following a second place finish at The Masters (April 13), Woods underwent his second arthroscopic knee surgery since 2002. Interestingly, in his first tournament following his earlier surgery, Tiger won the 2003 Buick Invitational — at Torrey Pines.

This time around, the stakes are higher. Despite what appeared to be a setback two weeks ago when Woods withdrew from Jack Nicklaus’ Memorial Tournament after previously committing to the Golden Bear’s event, Tiger is ready to play in this week’s U.S. Open.

“I’m looking forward to it. It’s obviously been awhile since I’ve played competitively and I’m really looking forward to getting out there and mixing it up with the guys,” said Woods, on his official website.

“I really do miss it. I really do miss being in that competitive environment.”

While Woods and Mickelson have earned their spot on the top of the mountain, there are eight former U.S. Open champions in this year’s field — Angel Cabrera (2007), Geoff Ogilvy (2006), Michael Campbell (2005), Retief Goosen (2004, 2001), Jim Furyk (2003), Woods (2002, 2000), Lee Janzen (1998, 1993) and Ernie Els (1997, 1994).

Also, the 2008 season’s only major winner, Green Jacket owner Trevor Immelman, is comfortable in San Diego having won the U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship at Torrey Pines in 1998. And don’t forget three-time major winner Vijay Singh and recent THE PLAYERS Championship winner Sergio Garcia. This week’s field is as loaded as any on the PGA Tour schedule.

“The challenge for Tiger, myself and Adam Scott is to not get caught up in each other. There are 153 other guys out there playing and competing,” Mickelson told the San Diego Union-Tribune.

“But you know that if you’re staying close to Tiger, you’re close to the lead.”

Speaking of a different type of field, the length of the rough is always an issue at the U.S. Open. This year, Torrey Pines’ 7,643-yard, Par-71 South Course will play 379 yards longer than any U.S. Open course in history. But the rough will not be nearly as treacherous as Winged Foot was in 2006 — when Mickelson infamously double-bogeyed the 72nd hole to lose to Ogilvy — or Oakmont was last year.

Tournament director Mike Davis called for a blend of rye and Kikuyu grass in the greenside rough, which will be a thick as 4-inches on shots that veer more than 12 feet off-target near the hole. Meanwhile, the rough surrounding fairways is graduated, meaning the farther off-line off the tee, the deeper the rough.

Intermediate rough will be cut to 1.75-inches, the first cut of primary rough will be 2.25-inches and the second cut will be 3.5-inches — down from the 4-inch mark of January’s Buick Invitational and the 6-inch punishments of wayward shots in recent years. As a result, last year’s U.S. Open winning score of 5-over should be a thing of the past.

Torrey Pines’ South Course has also widened four fairways, compared to just two that have been narrowed since the Buick. Fairways will play between 24 and 33 yards wide. The No. 6 hole will be scored as a Par-4 rather than the Par-5 in the Buick; but No. 18 remains a 573-yard Par-5 finishing hole that dares players to risk double-bogey for a chance at an eagle — despite being guarded by greenside water.

This year’s U.S. Open offers its usual test of mental toughness and physical endurance, along with the added suspense of a wounded Tiger and a Left Coast favorite in the same group. Played since 1895 and nationally televised since 1954, the 2008 U.S. Open will be a prime time event with extensive coverage on two networks.

On Thursday and Friday, ESPN (1:00-3:00 p.m. ET and 5:00-10:00 p.m. ET) and NBC (3:00-5:00 p.m. ET) alternate, before NBC (4:00-10:00 p.m. ET on Saturday and 3:00-9:00 p.m. ET on Sunday) takes over weekend coverage of the 108th U.S. Open.