Lee Westwood, Luke Donald, Phil Mickelson and other top players gather for the coveted US open
The second biggest showdown of the sport is about to begin when the US open, the second major of the year, kicks off at Congressional Country Club’s Blue Course on Thursday June, 16.
The fire brand young guns from across the world as well as the veteran players of the sport will be pitched to bag the coveted title which is co-sanctioned by both the PGA Tour and the European Tour.
Top 50 on the Official World Golf Ranking will be contesting for the title among the 156 total field at the slightly altered Blue Course of Congressional near Washington DC. The event will be staged for the third time at the scenic 7,574 yard, Par-71 course
after 14 years when it last hosted the event in 1997.
South African Ernie Els took full advantage of the then Par-three, 18th to bag the title. The USGA later moved to add another hole to the course, Par-three, 10th and turned the 17th into the new par-four, 18th.
This will be the second longest Par-four hole in the history of the tournament.
Americans will be hoping to break the winless major streak where the Europeans and non-Americans are dominating the sport with four current major titles. This is the first time in history that no American was able to win a major in the whole year and a fifth
one going into the hands of foreigners will be another unprecedented event in history.
Lee Westwood, the 38-year-old former world number one, is currently in the best of forms and is looking forward to winning a major, a title which has been so elusive in his long golfing career. He finished runners up in Saab Wales Open and finished for joint
11th at the FedEx St. Jude Classic in Memphis last week. His record also boost of five top-three finishes in his last 11 bids in major events.
World number one Luke Donald, is now a completely transformed player after his stellar victory at the Saab Wales Open on the Playoff. After he topped the OWGR, he gave a fitting reply to the critics that the “Luke Donald sickness has finally been cured”.
Donald has remained the most consistent player for the past few months after he started wining high profile tournaments at the beginning of the season. He won the WGC Accenture Match Play title in Tucson in February overtaking the then world number one Martin
Kaymer. He is ranked 33rd in hitting the greens in regulation, sixth in putting and third in bogey avoidance.
Phil Mickelson, the four-major winner, will be hoping to win the only major he has not won in his home country. He finished second for a staggering five times and is perhaps the only hope of the American audience who can win the title. The American is also
in top form after winning the Shell Houston Open and finishing tied for 13th at the Memorial.
K.J.Choi, the top Asian golfer, has been practicing for almost a week at the Blue Course and feels rejuvenated with his first high profile win at the Players Championship.
Northern Irishman Rory Mcilroy is also hoping to overpower the final round twitches which cost him the Masters in April. Graeme McDowell, the defending champion has taken a week off to reflect upon his performance in the season and will be launching his
bid to defend the title.
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