TOUR Insider: The three numbers you need to know

PGATOUR.com's Dave Shedloski says in this TOUR Insider exclusive that there are really only three numbers you need to consider for this week's 107th U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club -- 13, four and 210.

By Dave Shedloski, PGATOUR.com Senior Correspondent

There are few courses more difficult than Oakmont Country Club in suburban Pittsburgh, which this week hosts its 13th U.S. Golf Association event and it's eighth U.S. Open. It will not take long for this fact to come to light.

Since 1960, only five courses (four in America) that have hosted at least two major championships have been more difficult than Oakmont when it comes to field scoring average. Oakmont has played host to four U.S. Opens -- 1962, '73, '83, and '94 -- and the 1978 PGA, and the game's best of each era have combined for a stroke average exceeding 75 -- more than four strokes over the par-71 established in those championships.

(Incidentally, the hardest course has been Carnoustie Golf Links, in Scotland, which hosts the British Open next month.)

The U.S. Golf Association has trimmed Oakmont's par to 70 this week, which it has done all but once since the last time the Open went to Pittsburgh. The yardage is a maximum of 7,230 yards. But the most pertinent numbers in relation to scoring are 13, four and 210.

The first is the target speed of Oakmont's notoriously pitched and pernicious greens, which might, in terms of slope and slickness, be even more difficult than the putting surfaces at Augusta National Golf Club. "Avoiding three-putts probably is about the most important goal you can have this week," says Pittsburgh area native Jim Furyk, the 2003 U.S. Open champion.

The second number -- four -- is the length of the primary rough nearer the fairway. It gets even higher and thicker the farther from the sprinkler heads a player strays. The latter is the number of bunkers. Yes, that's a lot. They have been renovated and reinvigorated and other than the greens, the deep, flat-bottomed traps will likely have the second greatest impact on the outcome.

Founded and built in 1903 by industrialist Henry (H.C.) Fownes, Oakmont has many unique features, none more renowned than its famed Church Pew bunker, a huge swath of sand broken up by parallel ridges of turf between the third and fourth holes. Another is its demand on shaping shots off the tee even though there are few true doglegs on the property -- just two. The pitch and tilt of the fairways dictates that curved tee balls have a better chance of staying out of the mulch.

Oakmont, which also has hosted three PGA Championships, is nearly 300 yards longer than when it hosted the 1994 Open that Ernie Els won in a playoff over Loren Roberts and Colin Montgomerie. Nevertheless, this will be a shot-maker's major and a philosopher's major. Accuracy and patience -- and a bin full of 10-foot putts -- is a splendid battle plan, especially since the weather forecast calls for mostly sunny skies and temperatures in the 80s for much of the week.

"Especially at Oakmont you have to control the golf ball," said world No. 1 Tiger Woods. "Oakmont is about ball-striking, getting up and down and putting. Every single facet of the game is going to be tested there."

Worth knowing:

Johnny Miller shot a record 63 in the final round of the 1973 U.S. Open at Oakmont. The lowest score at Oakmont since then was posted by Colin Montgomerie and John Cook, each with 65 in the second of the '94 Open. Loren Roberts, who is not in the field, posted 64 in the third round that same year.

Oakmont might be ghastly hard, but it can be had, too. Miller's 63 isn't the only evidence. The two lowest third-round scores by a winner in U.S. Open history were shot at Oakmont: Larry Nelson's 65 in 1983 and Els' 66 in 1994.

In addition to Els and Montgomerie, others returning who completed four rounds in the '94 Open are Phil Mickelson, Jim Furyk, Scott Verplank, Davis Love, Jeff Sluman, Fred Funk, Paul Goydos, Olin Browne and Kirk Triplett. High finishers after Els and Monty: Sluman (tie ninth) and Verplank (tie 18th). Also tying for ninth that year was Frank Nobilo, now a Golf Channel analyst.

Woods says he won't likely hit many drivers at Oakmont. Last time he dialed down was last year's British Open at Royal Liverpool, and he shot 18 under par and won by two shots over Chris DiMarco for his 12th major title.

Take a close look at lefties this week. In the last five years only two players have recorded three top-10 finishes in the U.S. Open: Mickelson, last year's runner-up, and Mike Weir.

Best pairing of the first two days: Mickelson, Adam Scott and Furyk, who are ranked 2-3-4 in the world, respectively. They begin the championship at 1:36 p.m. EDT on the first tee.

Camillo Villegas qualified for his first U.S. Open last Monday in a sectional qualifier in Columbus, Ohio, just five days after nearly withdrawing from the Memorial Tournament presented by Morgan Stanley with a neck injury. He got his neck worked on two days in a row before teeing it up at Muirfield Village Golf Club, managed to somehow make the cut, and ended up tied for 31st before shooting 69-70-139 to qualify for the Open.

This week's U.S. Open starts the countdown of the final 10 events on the PGA TOUR's revamped regular season before the FedExCup playoff run begins. Of the top 15 players in the points standing, 12 are among the top 25 in the Official World Golf Ranking.

Spanish sensation Pablo Martin made his professional debut at the Stanford St. Jude Championship after signing a multi-year endorsement deal with Nike. The former Oklahoma State standout is qualified for this week's U.S. Open. Earlier this year at the Estoril Open de Portugal he became the first amateur to win a European Tour event. He'll be paired at the Open with compatriots Sergio Garcia and Jose Maria Olazabal.

Don't expect Martin or any other first-time entrant to win. That hasn't happened since Francis Ouimet in 1913. And the last champion to go through local and sectional qualifying was Orville Moody in 1969. John Goodman, in 1933, was the last amateur to capture the title.

TOUR INSIDER'S power ranking for the 107th U.S. Open: 1. Adam Scott, 2. Jim Furyk, 3. Tiger Woods, 4. Aaron Baddeley, 5. Scott Verplank.