Blog: Woods on Oakmont and recent travels
 
Apr. 24, 2007

I played 36 holes at Oakmont Country Club on Sunday with my good friend Hank Haney. It's a great test, but has a lot of blind tee and second shots. Overall, I'd say it's a lot harder than Augusta National. It's an old-style course. I kept trying to figure out where the USGA was going to put the pin placements for the U.S. Open in June and I'm still not sure.

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Tiger Woods took in a practice round at Oakmont over the weekend. (Greenwood/WireImage)

The greens were running about 10 ½ on the Stimpmeter, and they were plugged last week. I don't think they were designed for that kind of speed, so it should be interesting. I think the course is in phenomenal shape considering they had snow last week. If they get some good weather, the greens should be good in three weeks.

I played the afternoon round with Bob Ford, the head professional. I was curious to see how the 288-yard, par-3 eighth hole -- the longest par-3 in U.S. Open history -- would play. I managed to hit the green with a 3-wood. Hey, I refuse to hit driver on any par 3!

On Monday, I did a corporate outing with American Express. I had lunch with about 80 people, then they watched me play Oakmont. The pins were set in the same places they were for the final round of the 1994 U.S. Open. Mike Tirico of ABC and Robin Roberts from Good Morning America were also out there.

The recent Masters Tournament was definitely one of the most draining weeks I've ever had in a major because the conditions were so difficult. Normally, that's not the case. That was one hell of a test.

The tournament committee kept it fair. The pin placements were just a touch softer than usual -- about 2 to 3 feet easier, which is everything. At least they gave us a chance.

I had an opportunity to win the tournament on the back nine Sunday, which is always my goal. I made a great par at No. 11 after my 4-iron broke against a tree while hitting my second shot. I had 180 yards to the green and thought it was either a 4 or 3-iron. I figured if I hit a good 4-iron I could roll it to the front edge, but I caught a tree limb.

Read the rest of Tiger's blog at: www.tigerwoods.com.