Tiger Woods

With about the same velocity as one of his drives, the word began to spread quickly last week at Torrey Pines Golf Course — and everywhere else in the golf world



If Tiger Woods can win the Buick Invitational for the fourth straight year and in such commanding fashion, what's likely to happen in 4 1/2 months?



That's, of course, when the U.S. Open will be held at Torrey Pines. For only the second time since the tournament began in 1895, the June 12-15 event will be held on a municipal layout, the South Course at the La Jolla, Calif., facility.



It's the same place Woods played countless times during his youth, and it's where Woods statistically and logically should be the prohibitive favorite this summer.



The United States Golf Association (U.S.G.A.), not the PGA Tour, sets courses for its championships. That means the Torrey Pines layout will have tighter fairways, longer rough and faster greens for the U.S. Open than the course configuration for the Buick Invitational.



In 2000, the last time a PGA Tour event and U.S. Open were played on the same course, the varying layouts made little difference. Woods won the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am and returned to Pebble Beach a few months later to dominate the U.S. Open.



And considering the U.S. Open has been won for the past four years by international players, it's only fitting that the title returns to an American's mantel via the world's No. 1 player, right?



Actually, no.



As he continues his inevitable bolt past Jack Nicklaus for all-time PGA Tour career wins (73) and major titles (18), what would be best for golf at the U.S. Open is not another victory for Woods.



At age 32, Woods will continue to dominate the sport for several years. But in the most prestigious United States tournament what would more impressive and more invigorating for golf is if someone challenges Woods in the waning holes on the final round and then beats him.



Nothing against Woods, really. But if an unheralded newcomer, a veteran seeking his first U.S. Open title like Phil Mickelson or a former recent titlist like Jim Furyk were to defeat Woods on the final day, it would afford the World's No. 1 player a great opportunity.



Woods is great in victory. He has his fist pump, stoic stare and great smile. But the legacy of someone in Woods' position is solidified in how he handles defeat, not unchallenged victory.