GOLF/US Open countdown: In he walked, gleaming white teeth and shiny new sneakers - you know whose - tied with a couple of elaborate bows. On days like these, Tiger Woods, so relaxed and such a cool, clean-cut hero, has the media world feeding out of his hands, writes Philip Reid from Chicago.

On days like these, two days before his attempt to annex another major title, he is so sugary sweet that all that is missing are a politician's promises and a few babies' cheeks to be kissed. On days like these, Woods could rule the world; and not just the golfing world.

For the second day running, Woods has his work done before the hands in the clock tower that is the centrepiece of the impressive clubhouse at Olympia Fields Country Club have moved into unison to signal midday. He's been out playing since 7.0 a.m. - with his buddy Mark O'Meara and with the Haas father and son combination of Jay and William - and now, refreshed and confident, here he is to tell us that the earth is spinning the right way round and that, yes, his swing is close to the way it was when he tore the field asunder in the 2000 US Open at Pebble Beach.

That was when Woods won his first US Open title. Last year, on the public course at Bethpage Black, he won his second. This year, he has come to Olympia Fields and found a course unlike either, but one that he anticipates will again find favour with his game.

"It's totally different to Bethpage . . . it's not as big a golf course, and it certainly has lots of doglegs. You have to make a decision what your line is off the tee and stay committed to those lines."

Oh, and one other thing. "The greens are a lot more undulating than they were last year," added Tiger. "We've got some good slope on them . . . and I am sure the USGA will put some pretty tricky pins out there for us."

Not only that, but - and this despite the deluge that struck yesterday morning - they could run as fast as 13 on the Stimpmetre.

In the run-up to this 103rd US Open, there has been criticism that Olympia Fields didn't merit playing host to the championship. That it didn't compare to courses like, say, Pebble Beach. Woods wasn't having any of it.

"It's different. You can't say that anything stacks up to Pebble Beach, it is one of the most beautiful places in all of golf. Last year at Bethpage was completely different, and it was a huge success. I think this year is going to be the same. It is going to be a huge success and the course won't be as easy as people seem to think. This is a very difficult golf course, and when you get a lot of winds blowing through here and it starts swirling, then it is going to be pretty tough to drive your ball into the right place."

Woods has won three times on tour this season - in the Accenture world matchplay, the Buick Invitational and the Bay Hill Invitational - but the world's number one judges success and failure by how he fares in the majors. In the Masters, he finished tied-15th; and, now, here in this second major of the season, he is again placed in the traditional role of favourite.

"If I was to win this week and not win again for the rest of the year, I'd consider it a great year," he claimed.

Which would suggest that Woods - whom Butch Harmon cast an eye over last week, and whose work got a thumbs up - feels he is in the right mood to chase a third US Open title.

"This type of golf is a different type of challenge, it's completely different to what we play the rest of the year. The best way I've heard it described is that you've got to plod your way along . . . every player says it is probably boring golf, but any tournament you play in, you hit it straight, hit the ball on the green, make the putts and you're successful. This golf tournament is the epitome of that."