Westhampton - It's called the 'Taj Mahal of Golf - the greatest meeting of land, sea and links.' Situated on the Monterrey Peninsula, and reachable only by a narrow road, 17-Mile Drive, Pebble Beach offers a most dramatic setting with nine holes overlooking the rugged coastline and spectacular vistas. The course is extremely challenging and is ranked number one on 'America's 100 Greatest Public Courses' list by Golf Digest for 2009-2010.

Tiger Woods no mood to answer questions regarding his personal life. (blogs.bet.com)

This U.S. Open will be the fifth played here at Pebble Beach, also the site of the annual AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, held every February.

The course is usually a par 72 but it is set up as a par 71 (35-36) for the professionals this week. The guys will play it at 7,040 yards. There have been loads of changes to the course since the U.S. Open was last played here in 2000. The biggest difference aside from several new tee boxes to add length, is the shifting of some of the fairways on the holes overlooking the ocean to bring the ocean more into play. The rough was cut down so balls could more easily roll off the firm fairways over the cliffs, with no rough to stop the roll. The rough was also cut back leading into many of the bunkers. The greens are very small and very quick and with no rain predicted so far in the forecast this week, many of the players have already voiced concern about how fast the fairways and greens are now and how much quicker they will become with the winds drying them up.

The purse this year is $7.5 million, with the winner taking home $1.35 million. At the 2000 U.S. Open, Tiger Woods earned $800,000. The purse 10 years ago was $4.5 million. In 1992, winner Tom Kite pocketed $275,000. In 1982, Tom Watson, beating Jack Nicklaus to capture the U.S. Open Title (after his 16 foot pitch shot from the high rough found the cup on the par 3, 17th hole), took home a $60,000 winner's check. And in 1972, Jack Nicklaus's winnings were $30,000. Now, that amount wouldn't get a lot of these players out of bed!

Tom Watson. (usaplayers.com)

Of course, no one assaulted the course like Tiger did at the U.S. Open here in 2000 when he won by 15 strokes, a record margin of victory for a Major. He broke several other records in the process including largest lead after 36 holes (6), largest 54 hole lead (10) and most strokes under par (12 under). (Gil Morgan was 12 under in the third round in 1992 before he collapsed to finish tied for 13th).

A lot has transpired with the top player in the world since 2000, to say the least. But don't ask him anything about his private life! A reporter from the London Daily Telegraph 'sugar-coated' a question during Tiger's press conference today in the interview room, only to be embarrassed by Tiger's response. It went like this:

Question: On the basis that all our professional lives are affected by our personal lives, can you tell us if you've got any resolution one way or the other with Elin yet?

Tiger abruptly answered back: THAT'S NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS!

Do you think Tiger was setting the ground rules for the rest of the week? You can be assured that nobody else asked him a question about his personal life after the way he responded to the British reporter! Tiger mostly talked about his game, saying it has improved a lot since the Memorial Tournament two weeks ago. His neck is better, but not yet where he would like it. He says the course is already playing very difficult, that the fairways have dried out and they are very quick.

Lee Westwood. (thetourreport.com)

He was asked what the challenges are, being his own swing instructor. (He and swing coach Hank Haney parted ways a few weeks ago, Haney 'texting' Tiger to tell him he was finished).

Tiger responded today: "You're always your own swing instructor. Any of these guys are. When you're out there playing, you're the one who has to fix it, no one else. And just having an understanding of your game, understanding of what the fixes are with each ball flight you know what is wrong with it and what the fixes are. And the main thing is going out there and trusting it. And then implementing a fix when you're out there and competing. That's where I think knowledge has a lot to do with it.

Tiger said he's excited about being paired with Ernie Els and Lee Westwood. They all get started on Thursday in round one at 1:36 p.m. PST, 4:36 p.m. EST.

Phil Mickelson, a runner up in five U.S. Opens, is still looking for that elusive U.S. Open title. Lefty would love to win his country's national championship.

When Phil was asked about the conditions, he said he thought it is the "best U.S. Open set-up" that he has seen. "I think the one area of concern I have is the greens, they're so small and they're so firm that, given that there's not any forecast for rain, I'm certainly concerned that we could have 14 potential '7th holes at Shinnecock,' if we're not careful."

My early pick is Lee Westwood. The cool windy conditions will favor a European player and Westwood is the most talented player out there who has yet to win a Major. The Brit is coming in with lots of confidence after winning the St. Jude Classic in Memphis last week. He was runner up at the Masters in April. He says that Pebble Beach is his favorite course in the world! He's hungry to win his first Major. He's ready. I think he just may do it this week.

Put your seatbelts on. As always, it should be an exciting ride! And catch my reports at the top of the hour starting at 10 a.m. on Thursday on WFAN Radio 660AM.