As it is every year, the 156-man field for the U.S. Open is a disparate band of golfers. There are players idolized around the world, respected journeymen who haven’t quite made it to household name status (and probably never will), and opportunists no one, save for family and friends, has ever heard of who made it through local and sectional qualifying for the thrill of playing the hardest course they’ll ever see in front of the largest galleries that will ever watch them and against players who 999 times out of 1,000 could give them two shots a side and still win. Players in the last category will likely be heading home on Friday night, but here are 10 who are expected to be around for the weekend and who may find themselves in contention come Sunday.

10 TO WATCH

Tiger Woods (World Rank: No. 1)
Any time a tournament is held on an actual golf course and the lowest score wins, Tiger Woods starts favorite regardless of which course is hosting the event. That said, Oakmont might not be up Tiger’s street as much as, say, Augusta National where he has won four green jackets; Torrey Pines, home of the Buick Invitational which he has won five times, or Firestone, scene of five of his 13 World Golf Championships triumphs. Despite being the second longest course in U.S. Open history, 7,230 yards is not excessive by today’s standards and with the rough so thick and the greens so fast and contoured, accuracy will be every bit as important as length this week, probably more so. And if Tiger finds his usual quota of only slightly more than 50% of fairways, he could be in trouble. At Hoylake last summer, he used his driver once in 72 holes, aware that the advantage he would have gained by taking the driver was minimal. He adapted to the conditions and won by two. For sure, he can do it at Oakmont.

Phil Mickelson (No. 2)
The inflammation in Mickelson’s left wrist certainly isn’t inflaming his chances of victory and were this not the U.S. Open he’d be home with his arm in a bucket of ice. But after what happened last year, this championship has probably become the center of Mickelson’s world — only slightly less significant than his wife and children. A final hole group-hug with his family is unlikely, however, given the effect hitting out of the rough will have on his wrist, and though Butch Harmon’s input is clearly helping him straighten his once wayward driving, even he admits he can’t avoid the rough at Oakmont.

Adam Scott (No. 4)
Starting with his win at the Shell Houston Open in April, the young Aussie has been playing superbly in recent weeks and even flirted with 59 in the second round at the Memorial, eventually signing for a 10 under 62. He has three top-seven finishes in his last three appearances and perhaps should have won at both Muirfield Village and TPC Southwind last Sunday. While his excellent recent form is encouraging, his apparent breakdowns in the final stages of those last two events puts something of a question mark over his ability to finish strongly. But with five wins since 2003, including the 2004 Players Championship, his disappointing weekends in Dublin and Memphis were surely just blips.

Ernie Els (No. 5)
The strapping South African returns to Oakmont, where 13 years ago he won the first of his three major championships. Els established himself as one of the best players of his generation following that victory but hasn’t won on the PGA Tour since the WGC American Express Championship in Ireland in October 2004 and hasn’t won on American soil since the Memorial earlier that year. The knee injury he sustained in July 2005 and the inevitable effect it had on his swing was to blame for his failure to win in the first half of 2006, but since then the continued search for victory probably has more to do with the resulting loss of confidence. In the 27 tournaments he has played on the PGA Tour since his return, he has recorded 10 top-10 finishes, 16 in the top 25, and missed only one cut (this year’s Masters), so the game is still there. He just needs to string four great rounds together in the same week. Oakmont will provide the necessary inspiration.

Geoff Ogilvy (No. 8)
After taking the lead midway through the final round of last year’s championship, NBC’s Johnny Miller said that at least Ogilvy would be able to tell his grandchildren he had led the U.S. Open. Miller is known for occasionally rubbing players the wrong way, and this comment was just plain unfair. Ogilvy had won the World Matchplay four months prior to the U.S. Open for his second tour victory and was already considered to be, if not among the game’s elite, then pretty darn close. The fact he won as a consequence of Padraig Harrington, Jim Furyk, Colin Montgomerie, and Phil Mickelson’s shocking play over the closing holes matters not one bit. He won, and he can certainly win again.

Zach Johnson (No. 13)
After the course was extended 155 yards in 2003 (after 305 had been added in 2001), the world was convinced it had seen the last short/medium length hitter win the Masters at Augusta National. But despite playing its full 7,445 yards and in temperatures so frigid his average drive petered out at just 265 yards, Zach Johnson piloted his ball round Augusta so cunningly he won a green jacket with the great Tiger Woods breathing down his neck. It appears smart golf still has a future, and smart golf will certainly play at Oakmont.

Rory Sabbatini (No. 14)
The 31-year-old South African invited ridicule when he said at the Wachovia Championship in May that Tiger Woods was more beatable than ever. But his results since his tie for second at the Masters show that, though something of a hothead, he is capable of backing up strong words with quality golf. Sabbatini hasn’t endeared himself to many players or fans in recent years and his swing isn’t a thing of beauty, but there’s no doubt he’s a classy player who can compete with the best in the game. His record at the U.S. Open is terrible — three missed cuts in four appearances and a tie for 71st after the cut he did make — so it’s unlikely he’ll win, but he is becoming ever more proficient in the tournaments that matter.

K.J. Choi (No. 17)
Though never high on people’s lists of serious contenders for the majors, Choi undoubtedly deserves respect, and there’s no reason why Oakmont can’t be the scene of his first major victory. A recent winner at the Memorial where he closed with a 65 to beat Ryan Moore by a stroke, the Korean now has five PGA tour victories to go with his six international wins. Oakmont’s dense rough won’t frighten this former weightlifter as it might less muscular players and with that win at hero Jack Nicklaus’ tournament comes affirmation that he has the tools to win a major.

Colin Montgomerie (No. 40)
After giving him grief for more than a decade, American spectators watching last year’s U.S. Open felt genuinely sorry for Monty after he came to the last hole needing a par to win his long-awaited first major, found the fairway with his drive, chunked a hapless midiron short and right of the green, and wound up (or rather down) with a double-bogey six. It was the Scot’s fourth top-three finish in the championship he has always said provides his best chance of winning a major. Time is running out and he may never again get a chance like he did at Winged Foot, but with the unerring fade he has built his career on, he can still find enough fairways to win.

Woody Austin (No. 81)
With just two tour victories (1995 Buick Open and 2004 Buick Championship) and only one top-20 finish in his first 14 tournaments this year, Austin was contemplating wrapping up his career, never quite having lived up, he felt, to his potential. But last Sunday at the Stanford St. Jude Championship, the Floridian fired a career best 62, allowing him to pass Adam Scott and David Toms among others, and register a fiveshot win. Austin’s best finish in a major is a tie for 16th (last year’s PGA Championship) and in 21 years as a pro he’s played in the U.S. Open just five times, making the cut on four occasions but never finishing higher than 27th. He’s clearly not at his best in the high pressure world of the major championships, but you can’t entirely rule out a guy who just shot 8-under in the final round to win a million bucks.

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