1. Two years after his second heart transplant, Erik Compton heads to Pebble Beach.
2. At age 16, Ty Tryon was expected to be the next big thing, especially after making the cut at the Honda Classic. Now, Tryon is 26. Time flies.
3. 5 years ago, Jason Gore played in the final group of the U.S. Open, alongside Retief Goosen. A lot has happened since that memorable weekend. Gore claimed his first and only victory on Tour in 2005, but after a couple of rocky years, he is splitting his time between the PGA Tour and Nationwide. He has only made 2 out of 6 cuts on the Nationwide this year. He'll be hoping to recreate some of the magic of Pinehurst in 2005.
4. Miguel Ángel Jiménez will be recognized for years to come for his strong Ryder Cup play. But for some, he will be remembered as finishing second to Tiger Woods at the US Open at Pebble in 2000. It doesn't matter that he finished 15 strokes behind, he still finished second.
5. Hunter Mahan, Ricky Barnes, Nick Watney. My guess is that this threesome will get the least amount of air time on television, but has the greatest potential to go low.nAll three of these guys are known to play well on tough courses. Look out.
6. Martin Kaymer, Sean O'Hair, Charl Schwartzel.The USGA always gets creative when assigning groupings for the first two days. This one I'm still trying to figure out. Germany, U.S., South Africa? Maybe they were going for a World Cup feel.
7. Jeff Overton and Rickie Fowler. Those are two names you won't be seeing this week. Neither player qualified for the Open, but arguably should have. Both are inside the top-15 on the money list. Maybe one of these two should have gotten the sponsors exemption instead of Vijay.
8. David Duval. He was a contender at the U.S. Open last year. He finished runner-up at Pebble Beach twice in the mid-90's. In 2000, he finished T-7. A fine track record if you ask me.
