And that's Oakmont, " he said.

"But first you'd have to slow down the greens."

If the annual preoccupation with the severity of US Open courses tends to deflect attention from the obvious fact that the second major championship of the season is the same for all the players whether the greens are as quick as Bryan Habana, or the rough is as thick as David Beckham, the special demands of Oakmont just cannot be ignored.

The claim that the marble surfaces which the Pennsylvania club's members regularly putt on have to be reduced in speed to about 13 on the stimpmetre for the world's leading professionals has more than a grain of truth about it.

And the reports that have filtered back from last week's reconnaissance missions suggest that Oakmont just might turn out to be the mother of all US Open venues. Certainly, if someone was to inveigle themselves onto the course after dark with a flashlight, and was of mind to put in a bit of serious searching, there are any amount of brand new Titleist ProV1xs to be found just feet from the sanctuary of the fairway.

Before he made the journey to Pittsburgh, the current champion, Geoff Oglivy, said from what he had heard, the course was going to one of the most brutal in the long history of US Open brutality.

After a practice round which cost him seven lost balls and an estimated 85 strokes, Ogilvy wasn't for turning.

Another Australian, Stuart Appleby, was also thinking of paying an early visit until he informed Vijay Singh of his preparation plans. "You may as well stay at home and stick pins in yourself, " was Singh's advice.

The word is that if the conditions are mild, and if there happens to be a drop of rain, five over par - the same as at Winged Foot last year - could be the winning score. However, if the course plays firm and fast, that total could easily double.

There was a time not so long ago when a fearsome US Open layout would have had P�draig Harrington thinking of little more than survival. At his first attempt at Congressional in 1997, missing the cut brought the realisation that if he was ever to contend at a major other than the British Open, he needed to radically overhaul his game.

Later in 2004 at Shinnecock Hills, when the USGA in its wisdom ignored the rising temperatures and turned one of America's finest courses into a concrete jungle in the final round, a bemused Harrington finished almost 20 shots adrift of the winner Retief Goosen. By then, he had improved to a point where he was within touching distance of the world's elite players, but the challenge of a really tough US Open was still beyond him.

That has changed, as evidenced by his near-miss at Winged Foot last year, and more recently by his seventhplace finish at Augusta where conditions were more US Open than the US Open itself.

As he has said himself, Harrington now goes to the majors believing, rather than hoping, he can win.

If Phil Mickelson's implosion, and Colin Montgomerie's disastrously mis-hit seven iron made the headlines, three pars over Winged Foot's closing holes would have given Harrington the title. While the loss was much less spectacular than Mickelson's or Montgomerie's, there was still some apprehension that his self-belief would be adversely affected.

And for a while it seemed that way as the British Open and the USPGA Championship passed by uneventfully, but Harrington recovered with a victory at the Dunhill Links before snatching the European Tour order of merit at the death and then beating Tiger Woods in Japan.

In true enigmatic style, he admitted that failure at Winged Foot was the "biggest disappointment of his career" but also insisted that the experience had boosted his confidence. "I'm a strange character, " he said last month, "I tend to like to realise I can do things before I can actually do them."

He might have slipped out of contention once again on Masters Sunday, however, there is a stronger sense than ever that the next few years represent Harrington's best opportunity of a major victory.

For someone whose long game is now usually so consistent, Oakmont's 288-yard par-three eighth hole, and its 667-yard par-five 12th - the longest in US Open history - shouldn't hold too many fears.

Admittedly, many of the course's bunkers and most of the rough are seen as virtual penalty shots, but Harrington's main concern will be with how he copes on the viciously sloping greens.

Mike Davis, the USGA official who has set the course up, calls them "the scariest greens we have for a US Open" while Tom Marzolf, the designer who oversaw the renovation of Oakmont which included the removal of 4,000 trees, says the course has "18 four-putt greens".

Meanwhile, the term 'minislump' has appeared once again in connection with Woods's prospects, yet in the last three majors since he fully recovered from his father's death, he won twice and was second. Add in victories at the Buick Invitational, the WGC event at Doral and the Wachovia Championship, as well as an impressive closing 67 at last Sunday's Memorial, and it becomes hard to fathom why anyone would secondguess his chances of a 13th major title.

There is the backdrop of an uncertain schedule brought about the expected birth of his first child early next month, and following charity work and the promotion of his own tournament in Washington, Woods has even suggested himself that his preparations for Oakmont haven't been ideal.

"I've been a little busy and my time management skills are going to be tested, " he said. "Thankfully, I don't sleep much."

There is infinitely more uncertainty over Phil Mickelson who wasn't the first, and probably won't be the last, to injure his wrist while hacking out of Oakmont's rough. His new coach, Butch Harmon, is strong on course management, but with his star pupil's erratic driving, it is difficult to envisage Mickelson standing on the 72nd tee with a lead like last year.

With Woods possibly not as well prepared and as focused as he would want to be, then this could be the most open US Open for a long time.

Because Augusta was unusually fast-running, Zach Johnson won, Jerry Kelly tied for fifth place, Mickelson was off the pace and Ernie Els missed the cut.

If Woods fails to match Ben Hogan and Jack Nicklaus who both won US Opens at Oakmont, then the course itself could emerge as the winner.

But at the end, there is always one man left standing, and it's not inconceivable that that man could be P�draig Harrington.

US OPEN 14 -17 June Oakmont County Club, Pennsylvania Live, Sky Sports 1 & 2

FIVE TO FOLLOW AT OAKMONT

P�DRAIG HARRINGTON Age 36 World ranking 10 2007 form won Irish Open, T7 Masters Major wins none US Open record nine appearances, four top-10s, 5th last year Brutally difficult course requiring patience, temperament and a razorsharp short game. You could say the US Open is tailor-made for Harrington who continues to improve, but then it's the quintessential American major, one Europeans are not supposed to win.

He will need good fortune and a good week on the greens, however, if you're looking for someone to end the 37-year drought since Tony Jacklin took the title, look no further.

Betting 28-1 JIM FURYK Age 37 World ranking 3 2007 form lost play-off at Colonial, four top-10s, T13 Masters Major wins (1) US Open 2003 US Open record 12 appearances, T2 last year Furyk is no different to the rest of the leading players in that to win from the front, he is only too well aware that Tiger Woods has to have an offweek. However, where he is different to the likes of Ernie Els, Sergio Garcia and Adam Scott, is that if he happens to be locked in a head-tohead with Woods over the back nine next Sunday, he won't be intimidated. The second title may be harder than the first, but at least he knows he has the game to succeed.

Betting 18-1

ADAM SCOTT Age 26 World ranking 4 2007 form won Houston Open, three top-10s, T27 Masters Major wins none US Open record five appearances, three missed cuts, T21 last year If he was a better putter, he would have won a major already.

Notwithstanding his inconsistencies on the green, he is such a magnificent ball-striker, and is making gradual improvements every season, that he can't be discounted. He watched his compatriot Geoff Oglivy confound the odds at Winged Foot, and is right to believe that he could be the next major champion from Australia.

Betting 22-1

RORY SABBATINI Age 31 World ranking 14 2007 form won Colonial, four top10s, T2 Masters Major wins none US Open record five appearances, four missed cuts The fast-talking South African wouldn't necessarily be the most popular winner. Even if his aggressive, shoot-at-pins style is not conducive to US Open courses, he is currently in the form of his life and if conditions at Oakmont happen to be a little softer than expected, the cocky Sabbatini could well be a contender. If he is in the last group in the final round with Tiger Woods - who he recently said was more "beatable than ever" - make sure give the Sunday Game a miss.

Betting 66-1

SEAN O'HAIR Age 24 World ranking 70 2007 form five top20s on PGA Tour Major wins none US Open record one appearance, T26 last year Could well have won the Players Championship if it hadn't been for a dramatic meltdown at the 17th, and was also there at the death in the Memorial where he finished in a tie for fifth. The US Open is frequently a showcase for one of the lesserknown American players, and with his fearless putting, and his selfconfidence, O'Hair might just come through to find himself in the shakeup.

Betting 66-1

Prices courtesy of Paddy Power