This isn't Erin Hills or even Pebble Beach. The rough is up this week and while it might not turn out to be the 1974 Massacre at Winged Foot, it will certainly be a return to a more traditional U.S. Open setup, offering the sternest mental test in golf.
"That's what differentiated the U.S. Open from the other majors," said sports psychologist Gregg Steinberg. "You'd have to totally switch your expectation and once you do that, you have a totally different game plan.
"The U.S. Open was always set up for the course to beat you up and you take it. And the ones who take it the best are the winners."
Since 2014 there has been only one winning score over par _ Brooks Koepka's in '18 at Shinnecock Hills. The winner has shot one-over or better since 2007, when Angel Cabrera survived Oakmont at plus-five. In other words, these will probably be the toughest conditions that many of the players in the field have ever seen.
So, how to determine who has the mental game to prevail his week?
Steinberg points to the PGA Tour's bounce back statistic _ how often a player makes birdie or better immediately after making bogey or worse _ as a good indicator of how they'll react to the expectedly tough conditions.
"The expectation is that you're going to make a couple of high scores," he said. "You're going to make a lot of bogeys and a few doubles and maybe even a triple and it's players who can bounce back the quickest who are most likely going to do well."
Steinberg thinks that a player like the even-keeled Matt Kuchar, who was eighth in the bounce back category last season, sticks out.
"It's not really a long course. It's definitely a strategic course," he said. "Kuchar has always been a person who has the perfect bounce back attitude."
He also tabs 2012 champ Webb Simpson.
"He seems to me he has a spiritual bent to his mental game and that helps his resilience," he noted.
As for some other names:
