U.S. Open notes: Justin Rose fighting back woes

OAKMONT, Pa. - Three years after winning his first career major championship at Merion in the U.S. Open, Justin Rose still returns to the club from time to time with "some special friends and to walk down memory lane."

But a more tangible aspect of Rose's victory was the chance to "free yourself up in future major championships," to not have to question whether you can win.

"It's the monkey off my back, so to speak," he said.

"A lot of great players haven't had the opportunity to win one yet. When they find themselves in contention, they have to face that line of questioning and obviously face those own thoughts themselves. So the fact that that's now off the table is an opportunity to go ahead and put the foot down and try to win as many as you can."

Rose, the 10th-ranked player in the world this week, has been hampered recently by what he called "a flared-up disk" in his back. He hasn't played since last month's Players Championship, has hit only a limited number of practice balls, and just started hitting his driver last weekend.

He thinks he can use his idle time as an advantage in the U.S. Open at Oakmont beginning Thursday.

"This golf course is going to require a huge amount of patience," he said, "and I think that having that quiet time to sit back and assess my game and assess the challenge this week and coming in with a freshness, I think, could be an advantage come the end of the week."

Because of health issues that have hampered him recently, 86-year-old Arnold Palmer will not be attending the U.S. Open this year in his own backyard.

Palmer has a long history with Oakmont. The native of nearby Latrobe lost a playoff here in 1962 to Jack Nicklaus, the first of Nicklaus' four U.S. Open championships. He played in his 32nd and last Open here in 1994, an emotional two rounds when he received ovations throughout the golf course, and openly wept at his final news conference.

"Arnold has had some serious mobility problems and has decided that it was going to be a bit too difficult for him to get down here this week," Doc Giffin, who has been Palmer's assistant for more than 50 years, said Wednesday after being honored by the U.S. Golf Association.

"He's going to be watching and rooting and paying close attention to the tournament."

Palmer and Nicklaus have served as honorary co-chairmen of the U.S. Open this year.

A total of 27 players who competed here at the 2007 Open will tee it up Thursday, led by Angel Cabrera, who edged out Jim Furyk and Tiger Woods to win the title.

There are four players - Ernie Els, Furyk, Phil Mickelson and Jeff Maggert - in the field who played in the 1994 Open, when Els defeated Colin Montgomerie and Loren Roberts in a playoff.

This will be Els' 24th consecutive appearance in the U.S. Open, the most among active players. But Mickelson, with 26, has the most Open appearances of those in the field.