Courtesy: www.tillinghast.net The fourth at Bethpage Black

How fitting is it that this year's U.S. Open is being played on a public course?

The game that millions around the world love is being served up by the world's finest players on a layout that you and I can play for just a hundred bucks during the week.

And that's if we don't live in New York State. As is often the case with American courses, if you're a resident of the state, you get a break on greens fees. So Bethpage Black would cost a resident of the Empire State just 50 dollars.

50 dollars to play what some claim was designer A.W. Tillinghast's finest work.

The pros will be playing just over 7300 yards of a tight course made tighter by the famed U.S. Open rough.

And it's a public venue. The U.S. Open has been here before, of course - back in 2002 - and to other public courses, demonstrating time and again that a well designed, well maintained course open to the public can also be a fierce test for the professional player.

A sterner test cannot be found this week.

But there is another ominous element: the weather.

The forecast for the entire tournament just stinks. Rain, heavy at times, thunderstorms and showers are the projected story right through until early next week.

The course has already been saturated with rain and the fairways are very soft. That means lots of long irons into greens - the bad news. The good news is the greens are soft, too, so we won't see balls landing and rolling away into trouble.

No doubt organizers have a plan to cope with the extensive weather delays that are bound to occur and that are bound to push this U.S. Open well beyond the weekend.

But do the players? The high anxiety of playing a major is stress enough; combine that with delays, extended stays in hotels or private homes and you have a combination of elements that will make many competitors fade.

In fact, the entire field will be playing against a mountain of challenge much like only one man, Tiger Woods, played against last year with his bum knee and broken leg.

So, from the point of view of sheer mental challenge, the odds favor Woods once again.

However it's too easy to pick Tiger on that basis alone. There is a lot of ball striking that has to happen as well.

One thing is certain: this will be a different U.S. Open and the weather will be the major reason.