McIlroy ready for baby dash, Johnson on pole: golf talking points

Tiger Woods begins his quest Thursday for a PGA TOUR record-tying 82nd win, as well as his 16th major, at this week’s U.S. Open at Pebble Beach. He won his first U.S. Open here 19 years ago by a record-breaking 15-stroke margin. How will he fare this week? We’ll have hole-by-hole coverage when his first round begins at 5:09 p.m. ET. RELATED: Leaderboard | Tee times | Tiger ‘trending in right direction’ | Chase for 82 continues | Tiger’s Jedi mind tricks in 2000 TIGER NOTES TIGER’S GAMEPLAN: Although he’s not as dominant as he was in 2000, Tiger does know what it takes to win a U.S. Open at Pebble Beach. “You look at all my angles,â€� Tiger said when asked how he could apply his 2000 win to this week. “I did not hit every green. I did not hit every fairway, but I always had the proper angle. And gave me the best chance to get up-and-down. I poured everything in. Hopefully I can have one of those weeks on the greens again.â€� PEBBLE BEACH THEN AND NOW: Woods was asked to compare the differences at Pebble Beach this year compared to 2000. “Right now I would have to say that it’s more clumpy than it was in 2000,â€� he said. “In 2000 it was pretty uniform all the way through. Right now they’ve got some spots where you can draw a good lie. You can get a ball to the green with no problem. And then there’s spots where it’s just a wedge, hack it out in the fairway and try to get up-and-down from the middle of the fairway. That’s probably the biggest difference between uniform and clumpy, between the two years.â€� TIGER ON PEBBLE BEACH: Besides his U.S. Open win, Tiger also has won the 2000 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in February. And in his first pro start at Pebble Beach, he shot 63-64 on the weekend to finish T-2; that ties his lowest weekend score ever on TOUR (along with the 1999 Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines). While his success on the historic course can’t quite match another California track a little farther south – the aforementioned Torrey Pines in San Diego – Woods understands how special it is to play a major here. “There’s nothing like playing a U.S. Open setup here in the Pebble Beach,â€� he said. “The golf course is not overly long. It’s not big in that regard, but man, it’s tricky. The greens are all slanted, very small targets. And if they ever firm up, then we have a totally different ballgame.â€� PLAYING PARTNERS: Woods’ playing partners for the first two rounds are Jordan Spieth and Justin Rose. This will be the eighth different tournament that Spieth and Woods have been paired, including last year’s THE PLAYERS Championship. The only other major was the 2014 Open Championship. This will be the 12th different tournament that Rose and Woods have been paired, including just two weeks ago for the first two rounds of the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide. They’ve also been paired three different years of the Open. Follow along for a hole-by-hole breakdown of Woods’ opening round at the U.S. Open. No. 1 (par 4, 380 yards) No. 2 (par 4, 516 yards) No. 3 (par 4, 404 yards) No. 4 (par 4, 331 yards) No. 5 (par 3, 195 yards) No. 6 (par 5, 523 yards) No. 7 (par 3, 109 yards) No. 8 (par 4, 428 yards) No. 9 (par 4, 526 yards) No. 10 (par 4, 495 yards) No. 11 (par 4, 390 yards) No. 12 (par 3, 202 yards) No. 13 (par 4, 445 yards) No. 14 (par 5, 580 yards) No. 15 (par 4, 397 yards) No. 16 (par 4, 403 yards) No. 17 (par 3, 208 yards) No. 18 (par 5, 543 yards)

Click here to read the full article…

Click here to read the full article…

Click here to read the full article…