Is Tiger fit enough to win US Open?

Golf's US Open begins at Torrey Pines on the west coast of the USA on Thursday with one question burning brightest. Will Tiger Woods be fit enough after knee surgery to win the tournament first time back, or will he fade and let someone else claim the glory?

The simple answer is: we won't know until we see Woods play his first round. The bookies are keen to take him on - always a dangerous game - and are making him 7/2 to win it, about three times the price he would be if he had not had an eight-week absence.

The thing is, you have to take Tiger at his word. If the word's best player thinks he is ready, then we have to take him at his word. He has played majors fresh before, and won them, and has done it several times on tour, so there is no question of his ability. If he is, his mind is so strong, the 7/2 is a great price.

He loves Torrey Pines having won on it several times when it stages a tour event in January and knows the place like the back of his hand. If he is fit, he will be close to winning it.

If, however, you think he can't possibly be 100 percent after the absence and the lack of pressure exerted on his knee so far, then who's the man to oppose him with?

Phil Mickelson, who lives near to the course and has played it probably more times than any other professional, is next in the betting at 7/1 and his form is good, if not perfect. He, too, though, is an excellent US Open player, and if he can cope with being paired with Tiger in the first two rounds, then he will be a threat.

There is a massive gap in the betting between the big two and the rest, with Players champion Sergio Garcia next at 18/1. One of the keys to US Open success is driving the ball straight, on their narrow fairways, and there are few better than Garcia at that. Now that he is growing in confidence with his putter, he will be a danger every time he tees it up.

Open champion Padraig Harrington is next at 22/1 and his great scrambling skills will stand him in good stead, while Vijay Singh and Luke Donald are both 30/1. Donald is playing very consistently and is England's best bet for a champion - though it has to be remembered that no European has won the US Open since Tony Jacklin almost 40 years ago.

Former champion Geoff Ogilvy is 33/1, Masters champion Trevor Immelman, Australian Adam Scott and Englishman Justin Rose are all 35/1, while two-time champions Ernie Els and Retief Goosen are both big prices, on paper, at 45/1, though their recent form is not too encouraging. They do know how to get it done around a US Open, though, so they can never be discounted.

Of the rest, don't be surprised if Robert Allenby, who says he is in the form of his life and is 55/1, gets in the mix, while big hitters could also go well, so Angel Cabrera should not be discounted at 100/1.

Woods will win if he is on his game, so I would back him, have a saver on Garcia and a bit of an each-way gamble on Allenby.