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Westwood leads cast of romantic chancers at US Open

Will Lee Westwood be able to cope with the heat of battle in Maryland? © PA Photos

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ESPN will be providing live commentary during all four days of the US Open from Congressional CC - along with all the news, views and opinion when it gets underway on Thursday

A little over two months since Rory McIlroy's Masters hopes came to rest in the back yard of a well-appointed home somewhere off the 10th fairway at Augusta National, it's time to go back to the majors - for golf's most unforgiving test.

The US Open famously protects par as it might a president, and this year at Congressional Country Club will be no different. Tiger Woods once described The Blue Course as a long and demanding layout that challenges "every factor of your game". That's only the half of it.

Congressional's 7,574-yard golfing exam in Bethesda, Maryland, ticks all the usual United States Golf Association boxes. Wayward drives are punished by thick rough, the greens are slick as snakes, and even the fringe chipping areas have been tailored for devilish difficulty.

Considering Woods hasn't won in 18 months, and was last seen nursing injuries to his knee and Achilles - not to mention his pride - in a shaky six-over-par front nine at The Players, it's hardly surprising he pulled out.

This 111th US Open Championship will be the 12th straight major without a Woods victory, dating back to his one-legged wonder at Torrey Pines in 2008. In that time we've had seven first-time winners stake their claim - what odds we'll get another on Father's Day?

Lee Westwood is as ever among the favourites. The Englishman has finished 11th or better in his last five tournaments, and will be returning to the course he made his US Open debut on back in 1997. Westwood managed a promising tie for 19th that year, and has since conspired to do everything in the game bar win a major.

Luke Donald is another on the verge. At Wentworth recently, en-route to a play-off victory over Westwood that saw him take the world No. 1 spot from his countryman, he said he felt "invincible" - and it showed. With an increasingly polished short game and a habit of splitting the fairways more often than not, he's surely in with a shout.

But while Westwood and Donald would be popular winners, it's Phil Mickelson who'll receive the most encouragement from the crowds in Maryland this week. Lefty is to the US Open what Tim Henman was to Wimbledon, and it would be something of a surprise if golf's ultimate scrambler doesn't at least flirt with the notion of going one better than his record five runner-up finishes.

When you look at the field it's easy to get carried away with romantic possibilities. Naturally there will be talk of redemption for McIlroy or Dustin Johnson, of back-to-back titles for Graeme McDowell, a return to the summit for Ernie Els, or the most unlikely of triumphs for Sergio Garcia. And who wouldn't want to see Westwood finally end his wait?

But before we get carried away, lest we forgot the majors are not all that forthcoming with fairytales. And if Steve Stricker of Jim Furyk have plotted an unspectacular path to glory come Sunday night, don't say I didn't warn you.

- Will Tidey will be covering the US Open at Congressional Country Club exclusively for ESPN.co.uk. You can send him your questions via Twitter at www.twitter.com/willtidey

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