Outside the new, swanky clubhouse at Bethpage State Park, a structure built in the style of an old English manor house for $10 million by the USGA when the decision was made to take the US Open championship to a public course, there is a giant-sized wrought iron Rolex watch. Philip Reid in New York

Its large second hand ticks away silently and unfailingly, and it is hard to believe anything other than that it is counting down time to the inevitable and another major win for Tiger Woods.

Of any modern golfer, Woods is the one that most resembles the precision of clockwork. If he wins this US Open at Bethpage Black - a monstrously difficult par 70 course of 7,214 yards, the longest in US Open history - Woods will have won seven of the last 11 majors, a quite phenomenal strike rate. Consistency in a world gone mad, if you like.

And, yet, while the world number one is the unquestioned favourite, and seeks to become the first player since Jack Nicklaus in 1972 to capture the first two majors of the season, events at Tulsa a year ago - when South Africa's Retief Goosen won the title in a play-off with Mark Brooks - remind us that, of all the majors, the US Open is the most unpredictable.

Players who are not necessarily the longest hitters, but who keep it straight and manage to find greens in regulation, have a real chance of winning.

Of course, it goes without saying that any potential winner needs patience and mental fortitude too, for the typical USGA course set-up - soft and narrow fairways, high and consistent rough and fast greens - is quite unlike anything else that is experienced in professional golf, either in the United States or in Europe. As if things couldn't get any tougher, the boundaries have been stretched farther than ever this year. The 12th hole, at 499 yards, is the longest par four in US Open history.

Nobody is moaning or complaining, however. "It's tough but not unfair," remarked Padraig Harrington, one of three Irishmen, along with Darren Clarke and Paul McGinley, in the field. "In fact, it is exactly what you expect of a US Open set-up," he added.

What is not normally expected at a US Open, though, is a two-tee start. But that is precisely what will happen in today's first round for the first time. With rounds painfully slow and taking over six hours last year, a decision was taken to use starts at the first and 10th this year, even though it means ferrying players out to the 10th, the most extreme part of the course. The reasoning is that it will shorten the playing day and build in extra time in case weather causes a disruption.

However, the two-tee start introduces another element to the test ahead. By general consensus, the stretch of holes from the 10th to the 12th is the most dangerous on the course. The 10th is 492 yards long, and not one to hit cold. Woods and Clarke are among those due to get their respective rounds under way from that tee-box, some two miles from the clubhouse; and Clarke, for one, had a straight-forward plan to play that stretch.

"On 10, you hit the fairway, then find the green; on 11, you hit the fairway, and find the green; on 12, you hit the fairway, and find the green," was his solution.

But players are aware of how tough a run of holes it will be. "It's very difficult to start there, right in the meat of the course," remarked Phil Mickelson. "You're not going to have the ability to get into the flow and have confidence... and, yet, to play the hardest holes early in the morning without wind when the greens are a little softer might be advantageous."

As Jose-Maria Olazabal acknowledged, though, it is a fate that everyone is going to have to deal with over the first two days.

Something that players will have to deal with on a more regular basis is the rough and, with the need to use driver on most holes, apart from the par threes and possibly the second and sixth, anyone not driving well will find themselves in trouble.

"If you're in the rough, it is a case of advancing it maybe 70 yards," said Clarke.

Certainly, the three Irish players in the championship know how important not only driving will be but also approach shots into greens. "Miss the green on the near side, and you're in trouble," said Harrington, as the rough in most cases has been allowed to grow high and perilously close to putting surfaces.

Harrington is the first of the trio to tee-off (1.25p.m. Irish time) in company with Tom Lehman and Steve Stricker from the first, while Paul McGinley also starts at the first (5.25p.m. Irish time) along with Jay Don Blake and Ben Crane. Clarke, winner of the English Open last week and swinging the club quite beautifully in practice, is alongside Woods and Chris DiMarco off the 10th (6.35p.m. Irish time).

At least Clarke will be able to keep tabs on Woods at first hand, which he hopes to use to his advantage. "As far as Tiger is concerned," admitted Mickelson of the man they all have to beat, "it is a very difficult challenge. But it is also a wonderful challenge, to be able to play against potentially the greatest player of all time. It pushes us all on."

The statistic that Woods has never won on a par 70 course where there are only two par fives, supposedly negating his length advantage off the tee, should be ignored. In practice, he has been playing lovely golf. His striking is pure, his putting sublime. A repeat in the white-hot heat of championship play would make him as hard as ever to beat.