2013 US Open: Last-Minute Predictions for Tiger Woods

There was a time when predicting the winner of a major championship was fairly easy when Tiger Woods was entered.

Those who picked him were right 14 times, but it seemed most times he was the logical pick.

It seems like that’s where we are right now. After not winning a major title for five years, the time is right for him to do that again.

Following is a handful of last-minute predictions for what’s ahead for Tiger Woods in the 113th U.S. Open.

Tiger Will Hit Most Fairways in First Two Rounds

Accuracy off the tee, especially in U.S. Opens, has never been a forte of Woods.

For a long time he subscribed to the “hit it a long way and go find it” way of playing.

But as his career has evolved, so has his game and Woods has turned into a pretty darn good “small-ball” player.

He won the 2000 Open Championship at Royal Liverpool by hitting one driver, and this year he took apart the Stadium Course at the TPC Sawgrass with liberal use of his three-wood off the tees.

He’s going to lead the tournament in fairways hit in the first two rounds, setting up a big weekend on the scoreboard for him.

Tiger and Sergio's Feud Won't Take a Public Turn

This was a non-story from the beginning.

The two of them don’t like each other, and because of Garcia’s immaturity and Woods' overbearing attitude, that dislike became public at the Players Championship and continued back and forth across the Atlantic far too long.

They shook hands on the practice range Monday, and that will be the end of it.

In Woods’ typical dismissive manner, Garcia will no longer exist.

Woods knows there are more important and more dangerous players out there that require his attention.

Tiger's Shaky Putting from the Memorial Will Continue

While Woods’ awful putting display at Memorial is troubling, a trend over recent years with Woods’ putting is even more troubling.

Given his status as the elite player in the game, Woods has done a lot of complaining about having difficulty adjusting to differing green speeds.

The way this is working out, there are going to a range of green speeds between Thursday and Sunday.

Woods will have to overcome less than stellar putting to win.

Tiger Will Prove a Point Thursday and Friday

For the first time in a long time, a so-called marquee matchup is actually a marquee matchup.

Woods, Rory McIlroy and Adam Scott, the first-, second- and third-ranked players in the world will be paired in the first two rounds.

Woods has won four times this year, Scott has won the Masters.

McIlroy is the odd man out, having had a disappointing season to this point, but he is still a two-time major champion.

Tiger will be the gold medalist in that 36-hole tournament inside the tournament.

Tiger’s Targets Will Be Different

At Augusta National Golf Club, when Tiger goes hunting for green jackets, he puts great emphasis on the par fives there.

By dominating those four holes, Woods establishes a cushion to work with on the rest of that devilish layout.

At Merion, there are only two par fives (coming in the first four holes), so the cushion needs to come from somewhere else.

As part of his game plan, Woods will attack and devour those short par fours. His wedge game will need to be spot-on.

Tiger Win Win

There are too many things that point to Tiger Woods winning another major and because of the confidence he has in his golf swing now, this is the week.

He has become very proficient at playing small-ball and will have a big edge on the rest of the field in that area.

The world was awed by Rory McIlroy winning a major by eight strokes.

They’ll also be greatly impressed by Tiger winning at Merion by six.