The Tiger Woods who arrives at the US Open in search of his 13th major title couldn't be further removed in outlook from the dispirited superstar who missed the cut at Winged Foot last year.

"This year is totally different," Woods said last week. "From losing a father to certainly becoming a father. My life is in two totally different places - a polar 180 from one another."

At Winged Foot, Woods made a gutsy but doomed return to competition as he played for the first time since the death of his father and mentor the previous May.

In fact, when Woods teed it up in the Open last June he hadn't played a tournament since the Masters, and he admitted it had been hard to find his usual focus even in practice.

"I just wasn't quite ready. I wasn't quite able to get back into it with my practice sessions because every time I'd go practice I'd always think about my fundamentals. And who taught me my fundamentals but my father," Woods recalled.

Woods shot two straight 76s and missed the cut by three strokes, ending a run of 39 straight cuts made in majors. That streak had included all 37 he had played as a pro.

While Woods declined to blame his lackluster showing on grief, 2005 US Open champion Michael Campbell said the American lacked his usual fire.

"The intensity wasn't there as it normally is, I felt as a player playing next to him," the New Zealander said after playing the first two rounds of 2006 with Woods.

Woods went on to salvage his 2006 campaign in grand style, winning the British Open and PGA Championship.

While a Grand Slam isn't on the cards this year after Woods finished tied for second behind surprise winner Zach Johnson at Augusta, Woods could take another step toward boyhood idol Jack Nicklaus' record of 18 major victories.

The US Open hasn't been the kindest major to Woods - he owns twice as many Masters crowns as US titles.

But Oakmont offers a chance to add one more major title to his resume before the very welcome upheaval of the first baby Woods and his wife, Elin, are expecting in July.

Woods has said the arrival of the baby will dictate his golfing plans later this year.

"You get to watch it for the first time only once. I want to be with her in that moment," he said.

Woods has three victories on the US PGA Tour this year, at the Buick Invitational in January, the WGC-CA Championship in March and at the Wachovia Championship in May.

Two weeks before the Open, Woods described the state of his game as "Better," but declined to give himself a rating.

"I'm not going down that road," he said. "I'm not giving one through 10 or A-B-C or whatever it is."

Woods said he was looking forward to his first US Open at Oakmont, one of the championship's most storied venues.

Oakmont will be hosting the tournament for the eighth time, but the first since 1994, the year before Woods entered his first US Open as an amateur.

(China Daily via AFP June 11, 2007)