Merion plays at just under 7,000 yards so golfers will not be challenged with length off the tee box this weekend, but that doesn't mean there aren't challenges awaiting once ball leaves tee. Accuracy will be key and staying out of the thick rough and many bunkers must be a focus over the four days of tournament play. Balls will be challenging to find in the rough, no matter how many eyes are searching and landing in the bunker means battling the raised edges of the sand hazards. No easy task, to be sure.

All is well that ends well, but the greens at Merion will not be treating golfers to easy hole conclusions by any means. Golf.com's Michael Bamberger reported the greens will register in the low 14s on the Stimpmeter scale this week. Weather conditions will be a big factor in how fast golfers will have to gauge their putts. 

The course itself is registered as a National Historic Landmark and over 150 golfers will tee off on Thursday to try and mark their place in US Open history. That scenario alone makes the 113th US Open must-see, for the drama will be vast even in the cozy quarters of Merion Golf Club. 

As is custom with any major championship, the full-throttled debate on who will win is the desired talk a day before the tournament begins. 

I scanned the major golf sites to see who was picking and who and here's the consensus:

1. Surprise, surprise, the majority have their money on Tiger Woods, who won his last major in 2008 at the US Open. 

2. Graeme McDowell is getting a lot of support as well and many believe his great year is about to get better.

3. Phil Mickelson should never be considered a dark horse, but the number of votes he's getting suggest he's on people's minds but is a long shot. 

4. Those who did not go with the obvious - and boring picks - have an eye on Jason Day, Brandt Snedeker, Matt Kuchar, Adam Scott, Webb Simpson and Bubba Watson.

Logic says one of those golfers will be the winner, but there is no logic in golf, especially when it comes to making picks. "Expert" picks, as they call them on main stream sites. 

Now, for the "Non-Expert," "Junior Varsity" picks... aka mine:

1. Rory McIlroy - No one is talking about him, so why not?

2. Jason Dufner - "Dufnering" next to a basket pin on 18 on Sunday? Yes, please

3. Phil Mickelson - Old reliable, just like Merion. Just be smart off the tee, Lefty.

Past 5 US Open Champions, so you can sound smart when you talk about golf with your friends this weekend:

2012 - Webb Simpson; 2011 - Rory McIlroy; 2010 - Graeme McDowell; 2009 - Lucas Glover; 2008 - Tiger Woods

TV Schedule

Thursday: 9am-3pm ESPN, 3pm-5pm NBC, 5pm-7pm ESPN

Friday: 9am-3pm ESPN, 3pm-5pm NBC, 5pm-7pm ESPN

Saturday: 1pm-7:30pm NBC

Sunday: 1pm-7:30pm NBC

Tiger Woods returned to the top of the Forbes list of highest paid active athletes after being ousted by Floyd Mayweather in 2012. He held the top spot for more than 10 years, starting in 2001, until his November 2009 infidelity scandal caught up with him and he lost Gatorade, Buick and Gillette as sponsors. Boxer Floyd Mayweather was number one last year, but slipped to 14 on the most current list. 

Forbes estimated Woods made around $78 million in 2012 from prize money, endorsement deals, appearance fees and golf course design fees. Not bad for a guy who hasn't won a major championship in years. 

Woods has always been the definition of marketable and that looks to be continuing far into the future as Woods is on the verge of inking a new deal with Nike that will surely pay him top-dollar. Though rumors ran through the golf media that Woods may leave Nike and go with a new equipment and apparel dealer, he is smart to stick with Nike, a company that backed him during the lowest stretch of his career that started in 2009. 

He has climbed back up to the top of the endorsement and money-making mountain. Now, we are all waiting to see when he can reach the peak of a major championship. We'll get another look at that journey next at the US Open. 

We are two days removed from Tiger Woods winning THE PLAYERS Championship at TPC Sawgrass and instead of looking ahead to the HP Byron Nelson Championship starting on Thursday, all you hear is outrage over TIger's latest sin on the golf course.

Let's enter the time machine... it's Saturday at THE PLAYERS on the Par 5 second hole. Sergio Garcia is standing over his ball and getting ready to swing and Tiger pulls a club from his bag at the same time. The crowd makes some noise. Sergio is instantly furious. 

Garcia would later claim that Woods distracted him during the shot and that he was "the victim" in this situation. A situation that saw Garcia make a bogey and Woods a birdie. A victim? Really? The only victim on a golf course is the golf ball, which gets beaten around and sometimes lost. Sergio Garcia is no victim. 

Woods said it was "not surprising that he's complaining about something." There is much truth in that statement. Sergio loves to complain, but then again, so does Woods. Whatever perceived rivalry existed between them before may have been ignited in this situation. 

The thing is, Woods made the shots he needed to make after playing this hole and Sergio did not. Sergio choked, as he is accustomed to doing in important golf tournaments. Which begs the question, why is Sergio trying to take the spotlight off his bad play on Sunday and putting the focus on the second hole he played on Saturday?

Because he's Sergio... and that's why he doesn't win majors. 

But of course since Woods told the world the marshals gave him the okay to hit and now they've told SI that he's a liar, this must be disected forevermore. There will be no reprieve from it. Do not pass go. Do not collect $200 (just Sergio tears). 

Let's get back in the time machine... it's Sunday at THE PLAYERS on the 14th hole. Tiger Woods has a two shot lead and hits a terrible tee shot which starts a little right but quickly comes back left and splashes into the water. He talks with his playing partner Casey Witenberg and his caddie about where his ball entered the hazard. They come to an agreement and Tiger makes his drop. (Here's a thorough breakdown of the shot from a crazy person).

Then the golf world explodes, forever and ever, but Johnny Miller has to let everyone know, "that Tiger drop was really, really borderline. I can't live with myself without saying that."

Good to know you have such conviction, Miller. I can't live with myself if I don't say that.

Since Tiger's DropGate at The Masters, everyone is keeping a very close eye on him anytime he hits into a hazard and has to take a drop. It's going to be like that until Woods retires from golf and even then some caddie on a course 25 years from now is going to raise an eyebrow from across two fairways when he sees Tiger taking a drop.

My question is why are we even having this "point of entry" conversation when TV crews clearly have the ball tracker/fligh path technology to know exactly where the ball went and a rules official could be sitting there watching it and then radio down to the marshal with a definitive point of entry. 

That makes too much sense, so it won't be done. Instead of improving the game so these things don't happen, we have to live in the archaic code of the honor system that all golfers must live and die by. It's silly, but that's tradition, I guess. 

A tradition unlike any other...

...Because other sports are smart enough to have unbias (mostly) officials monitor and enforce the rules of the game.

THE PLAYERS Championship opened up the second round today and if the first round is any indication of what is to come, we're in for a solid weekend of golf. 

Roberto Castro, in his debut at TPC Sawgrass, tied the course record with an opening round 63 (-9) and closed the day with a three shot lead. If that's not confidence building, I don't know what is. 

But, one round a golf tournament does not make. Castro has many of the PGA Tour's best nipping at his heels with Zach Johnson and Rory McIlroy at -6 and Steve Stricker and Tiger Woods sitting at -5. Birdies were aplenty on Thursday, with course conditions being lauded by the players after their rounds. Though there is a chance of rain throughout the weekend, it's going to take quite a bit of precipitation to hurt the course conditions. 

Live video of the second round is available all day at this link. 

The famed 17th hole at TPC Sawgrass was not too menacing on Thursday. The average score was a 3.076, just a hair over par if you want to be a stickler about it. 

Castro was closest to the pin at 1'7" and was the only player all day to get within two feet of the pin off the tee. The field had 22 birdies, 103 pars and 10 bogeys on Thursday and 15 balls ended up lost forever in the water surrounding the island green. 

With great conditions for today in the forecast, expect a lot more low scores and the cut line to be right around par, maybe just over. 

Click here for a live leaderboard as second round play continues.

I wasn’t expecting to play nine holes of golf when I went home to see my family last weekend. With a busy schedule of a birthday party for my nephews, seeing friends, trying to squeeze in a bike ride and not much time to do it all, I told my dad there wasn’t enough time to get nine holes in. 

What I should have been expecting is that I was going to be playing golf no matter how little time there was to do it because my dad never takes no for an answer, especially when I’m home and he feels like golfing. After a short, but effective, guilt trip from him to me, we set a tee time for 10:30 the following morning. 

Fair enough, I thought. I love golf and a few hours on the course with my brother and dad is never a bad thing. However, I was adamant that I got a good bike ride in while I was home. Living in Chicago means having to ride at least 45 minutes to get away from lots of traffic to enjoy a peaceful ride. When I’m back home in Chardon, the open roads and hills are aplenty. Plus, the weather was going to be nice. Good for golf and riding. 

I pulled up Google Maps on my phone and found out the course was 13.5 miles from my house. That was enough for me because I knew after all the hills I’d be riding to get there, it would be just enough to get some training in and not be completely spent for nine holes. 

I got up at 8:00 a.m., suited up and took off for a chilly morning ride. When I finally got to the course, the priceless looks from all the other golfers of me in my cycling kit made it all worthwhile. I highly doubt many people in the area ride their bikes to go golfing and I probably would be giving the same glances myself if I was on the other end of the situation. 

What was harder than any of the hills I had to ride was having to play without my own clubs. My brother has a nice set of Mizuno’s with a new Callaway X Hot driver and I used those a little bit during the round. The driver was especially nice. But for the few holes where we found ourselves on completely opposite sides of the hole, I was forced to use a very old set of Titliest clubs that I used to routinely play years ago. Put it this way, they had no pop back then either. 

Overall, I was pretty happy with my first nine holes of the year. Even though I shot a pathetic 53, a score I haven’t shot in many years on nine, I scrapped out a few pars and was on for birdy on multiple holes. The problem? I had two 8’s on my scorecard, lost a couple balls, and used two different putters through the whole nine. Needless to say, I never found much of a groove playing with a bunch of different clubs that were foreign to me. 

In the end, it wasn’t about the clubs or the scorecard, though. It was simply about getting out on the course on a nice April morning with my dad and brother. I never should have considered not playing that nine and I’m glad I did. 

I’ll take a nice bike ride, 53 on the scorecard, and time with my family any Saturday morning.

The first round of the NFL draft airs in prime time tonight and it got me thinking… if the PGA Tour had a draft with all current Tour players available, who would the first pick be? Better yet, what would the Top 10 look like?

Let’s say there are ten owners of “golf teams.” Each team gets one golfer and their stats throughout the year are calculated and put to use in some formula that also includes what place the golfer finishes in at each tournament.

Basically, it’s Fantasy Golf, but since we’re nearly five months into the golf season I’m going to use 2013 performance, as well as future potential to make my PGA Tour Draft Picks.

With the first pick in the 2013 PGA Tour Draft, the Cleveland Wedge’s select…

Rory McIlroy: He’s got the brightest future of any golfer on Tour and he’s already a proven winner. No brainer here.

With the second pick in the 2013 PGA Tour Draft, the New York Slicers select…

Tiger Woods: Many believed Woods would be the first pick, but it’s 2013, not 2003 and while Woods most likely has a few major wins left in him, he’s still on the backside of his career.

With the third pick in the 2013 PGA Tour Draft, the Sacramento Sand Traps select…

Luke Donald: It’s not a flashy pick but Donald is much like Drew Brees of the New Orleans Saints in that he’s consistent and has the ability to have a break out year, every year and winning the big one is never out of the question.

With the fourth pick in the 2013 PGA Tour Draft, the Austin ArnoldPalmers select…

Adam Scott: Not only is he a major champion winner, he has great marketable looks and let’s be honest, it’s all about money. He traveled a long road to get to that first major and has plenty of years left in the tank.

With the fifth pick in the 2013 PGA Tour Draft, the San Diego Fringe select…

Phil Mickelson: San Diego takes the hometown boy and multiple time major champion. It’s a risky pick, but will pay big dividends if Mickelson has a resurgent second half of his career.

With the sixth pick in the 2013 PGA Tour Draft, the St. Louis Water Hazards select…

Keegan Bradley: The future is bright for Bradley and being a major champion at the ripe age of 26 easily puts him in the Top 10.

With the seventh pick in the 2013 PGA Tour Draft, the Chicago Wind select…

Bubba Watson: Chicago will love Watson’s charisma and charm. They’ll fall even more in love with his huge driving ability and being in contention in nearly every tournament.

With the eighth pick in the 2013 PGA Tour Draft, the Augusta Nationals select…

Rickie Fowler: It’s not always about what you’ve done in the draft, it’s about what you might do. While Fowler’s loud wardrobe choices may be a bit much for Augusta’s conservative nature, the possibilities could very well be endless for Fowler if he reaches his potential.

With the ninth pick in the 2013 PGA Tour Draft, the New England Fairways select…

Justin Rose: Solid player. Great attitude. Always seems to be in the mix on Sunday. What more could you want?

With the tenth pick in the 2013 PGA Tour Draft, the Denver High Rough select:

Dustin Johnson: Controversial pick at 10, but Denver must like the potential if Johnson can find the proper balance of mental focus and physical ability in the future. Or maybe they just want Paulina Gretzky at home games. Tough call. 

Deer antler spray. You remember it most for the Ray Lewis controversy during Super Bowl week when reports surfaced he had used it to recover from injury to return in time for the Baltimore Ravens playoff run. 

Obviously the most important part of that story is the deer antler spray contains an illegal substance known as IGF-1 that is on the NFL's banned substance list. It's also banned on the PGA Tour and while the headlines over Super Bowl week focused on Ray Lewis, golfer Vijay Singh found himself caught in the cross hairs of the deer antler spray fiasco. 

In January, Singh told Sports Illustrated he had used the spray, but like most athletes, claimed he had no idea there were any prohibited substances in it. He expressed remorse and anger about putting himself in that situation, but has been quiet on the subject since. 

It should come as no surprise the PGA Tour has also been quiet on the matter. When asked last week if there were any further developments in the decision to impose a suspension or penalty on Singh, the simple answer given was, "No."

Typical. We live in a society where doping in sports is rampant and the accused (and convicted) are persecuted for their decisions. The PGA Tour has not dealt with these kinds of issues before other than a brief stint with speculation surrounding Tiger Woods during his fall from grace. 

The Tour's response to this issue could have been proactive and their investigation could have been done transparently, but they chose to take a wait and see approach like every other major sports organization and therefore their credibility in dealing with doping issues is now tainted for me. 

One has to look no further than a quote from an interview Jim Nantz did with Sports Illustrated to see how the PGA Tour and it's cronies views golfs role in the world of doping:

SI: Are there steroids in golf?

JN: I would be shocked if there's anybody in professional golf doing that. Shocked. You hear, "They're hitting it so far." But golfers are not cheats. The guys up on the pedestal in our sport play by the rules. That's unusual in our society. It's beautiful.

SI: Not one guy using steroids?

JN: One guy can cause a scandal. The fans would be devastated. But there's not a scandal and there's not going to be one. We should not even breathe a hint of suspicion; it's a nonissue.

Nantz is arguably the most recognized voice in all of golf. In the eyes of fans, he is one of the foremost authorities of the golf media. What he says carries weight. Yet, he is blind to the grip performance enhancing drugs can have on athletes, even in golf.

Nantz fancies himself a journalist and if this is his "objective" view on doping in golf, it's no surprise the PGA Tour simply says "no" when asked about whether or not any developments have been made in it's doping case with Singh. 

The PGA Tour says it's golfers are honorable and point to them policing their own scorecards during rounds as evidence of that, yet the Tour fails to police its own doping policy at the first sight of a problem. 

Same old doping story, just a different sport.

What more can be said about The Masters that hasn’t been said already?

In reality, no words can do justice to the majestic scenery of Augusta National and no words can do justice to describe the battle PGA Tour golfers will face mentally and competitively over the course of four days. 

The Masters speaks for itself. 

The battle for victory is where we can interject, debate and make bold decisions about who will be wearing the coveted green jacket on Sunday. Onto the Power Rankings...

1. Tiger Woods - Woods hasn’t conquered Augusta National since 2005, but prior to that he’s donned the green jacket four times. He’s on a roll in 2013 with three wins and hasn’t shown a combination of mental focus, shot control, and putting ability like this since he was dominating the Tour single-handedly. If not this year, then when?

2. Bubba Watson - I usually reserve the top spot for the returning champion, but as much as I’d like to not be on the Tiger band wagon, it’s pretty impossible not to be right now. Watson had a dream ride to his first green jacket last year and though he hasn’t won a tournament since The Masters last year, I’m of the belief someone with the ability of Watson can catch that magic again.

3. Rory McIlroy - McIlroy hasn’t started 2013 with a bang, but he did finish second in the Valero Texas Open last week. The demons of 2011 have been tamed, but McIlroy will need to find the right balance of focus and risk if he’s going to win his first green jacket. McIlroy has epically struggled mentally at Augusta National, but he has matured a lot in two years.

4. Adam Scott - Scott is going to put it together at some point because he has all the tools to win a major and that includes The Masters, which is typically a different beast than the other three. Each year, he gets a little more experienced and when he finds the right groove he’s very tough to beat.

5. Phil Mickelson - Mickelson is rarely not in contention at The Masters, so logic says he’ll be in the mix on Sunday. He won the WM Phoenix Open earlier this year and has shown flashes of good form. As is custom with Lefty, if his risks pay off, you can be sure he’ll be in one of the last groups on Sunday.

So, who’s going to win it? I’ll take my Top 5 in Power Rankings to finish all in the Top 10, but Woods is getting another green jacket on Sunday. 

Who you got? Tell us on Facebook and Twitter.

The day after every golf season is, I start a countdown. Holidays come and go, the weather turns to a winter apocalypse in Chicago, but I keep counting down the days. 

On Thursday, that countdown reaches zero and FINALLY, THE MASTERS have come BACK to my television. For the millions (AND MILLIONS) of Augusta National’s fans, this is the greatest time of the year. The Masters is the major of all of majors on the PGA Tour, the premiere event, or simply, The Big One.

In a matter of days Jim Nantz will be softly speaking in historic tones while a beautiful, yet treacherous landscape frames the television picture. 

We’ll see Tiger in red (hopefully), Bubba Watson in a quest to defend his green jacket, and the greatest golfers in the world hoping they’ll be the one Watson puts a new green jacket on. 

Rory McIlroy says he is “100 percent.” He’ll need every one of those percentage points both physically and mentally to tame Augusta National. He’s failed miserably and historically at this course in the past, but to say he’s matured since then would be an understatement.

Past Masters champions will walk the grounds that made them immortal heroes and one lucky golfer will join their ranks again this year. Masters champions are never forgotten, for their conquest of Augusta National is a feat unlike any other. 

In 1934, Bobby Jones’ greatest legacy began. In 1949, the first green jacket was awarded to the winner. In 2013, another golfer will become legendary. Now, the only question is... who?

What's different this time is a PGA Tour golfer is involved. His name is Jason Dufner. 

It all started with this:

And that led to these:

And a whole lot more.

Enjoy the holiday weekend. Don't forget to buy your loved ones some golf equipment from Hurricane Golf and if you get out on the course, may your drives fly straight and your putts travel on the proper lines. 

If you're in to participating in these viral memes, feel free to post them on our Facebook fan page or send them to us on Twitter.