Illinois, June 11: Holder Tiger Woods insists he is in superb form ahead of this week's US Open at Olympia Fields. The world number one was virtually untouchable during 2000, when he won the last three majors of the year in record-breaking style.
He told a news conference on Tuesday that his ball striking was now almost at the same level. "It's close to that, but not quite," said the 27-year-old American, after playing a practice round in the company of Mark O'Meara and the father-and-son combination of Jay and Bill Haas.
"I don't hit the ball as long as I did then with my shorter irons, that's for sure, because I don't go at it as hard. But everything else is about the same.
"My trajectory is maybe a little bit different, my ball flight is a little flatter than it was in 2000 and I think it's just from the overall swing changes that I've made.
"But as far as the comfort and the confidence are concerned, it's very close."



Woods is bidding for a third US Open title in four years this week after triumphing 12 months ago by three shots at Bethpage State Park.



"I think this golf course is totally different than last year and it is not as easy as people might think," he admitted. "It's not as big a golf course and there are certainly a lot of doglegs and the greens are a lot more undulating than they were last year.



"When you get the winds blowing through here and the trees are swirling, it's pretty tough to drive your ball into."


Bureau Report