One of them has won two U.S. Opens. The other has won twice in the last three weeks.

One of them has gray in his hair. The other probably doesn’t even realize yet that gray is a color.

One is 44 years old. The other won’t be 24 until Dec. 30.

Curtis Strange and Tigers Woods are golfers whose careers are poles apart right now. Strange has won 17 times since turning professional after his junior year at Wake Forest in 1976. Woods has won nine times since leaving Stanford in 1996.

Strange’s last win came in the 1989 U.S. Open. Woods’ last win came in Jack Nicklaus’s Memorial Tournament two weeks ago.

Yet both are here at Pinehurst No. 2 with the same goal: Win the U.S. Open. That’s one of the great things about golf. It’s all about the player who can find his game at the right time. Even at 44, Strange is hoping that the magic returns for one more week. What better venue than Pinehurst No. 2, scene of back-to-back North and South titles before he turned professional?

The odds are all in Woods’ favor, of course. He’s the hottest thing going in the world of golf, has been since even before he turned professional and was given a zillion bucks by Nike in endorsement fees.

But as hot as he is, Woods knows that he has to execute the shots this week. His record in Open championships has been dismal – according to his standards – and he feels the time is right for that to change. At least he likes the way the course is playing.

"It’s a little more friendly than I thought it would be," he said, flashing that multi-million dollar smile. "I think the USGA realizes it made a mistake at Olympic Club last year where they had the fairways too tight and the rough too long."

Despite his tender years, Woods has great respect for Donald Ross-designed courses.

"Donald Ross ranks right up there with me," he said. "I’ve always loved traditional courses. They used the natural terrain and there’s nothing artificial about those old courses."

Woods has been criticized in past Opens for not having the patience to deal with the USGA layouts.

"I’m still learning how to play the game," he said, which must be terrible news to the other Tour players. "I’m only 23 and I have a long way to go. I know that, but I’ve come a long way, as well. And I’ve learned by watching other players. I’ve learned from my own mistakes, but I think most importantly, I have learned. And I’m not afraid to go out on the golf course and apply what I’ve learned.

"Anybody can win when they’re hot, that’s not hard, But it’s hard to win when you’re off. I wasn’t playing that well at Memorial on Sunday, but I managed my game well."

Except for the graying hair and a few lines around the eyes, Strange doesn’t look a great deal different from the young man who dazzled fans here with his game during the North and South championships. And he’d like to find that game for one more week.

"Hit it on the fairway, hit it on the green and make the putts," Strange said. "That’s what I’d like to do. I have played a lot here, along with guys like Jay Haas and Davis Love. It’s just that this is one of my favorite courses. I love it; everything about it. The course is perfect as far as I’m concerned."

It doesn’t bother Strange that No. 2 is set up differently from the courses on which he won his two Opens.

"It’s going to be fun," he said. "It’s U.S. Open from tee-to-green, then there’s obviously no rough around the greens. It’s just going to be fun for the players to hit different shots. It’s going to be fun for you to watch, the viewers to watch on television, because there’s going to be a lot of different shots hit and a lot of imagination used. It’s going to be interesting to see what the guys do instead of taking a sand wedge out of the rough.

"I don’t know how it’s going to play, or what the scores are going to be because we’re playing a little bit in the unknown. We haven’t had a setup like this in the U.S. Open, in my time anyway. But I think it’s going to be a ball."

Strange is more pleased with his game than he has been in a while, and he doesn’t think it’s just coincidence.

" I think I played decent golf the last couple of weeks because I really wanted to," he said. "I’m preparing for this week. I’ve been looking forward to this week ever since they announced the Open was coming here. This is a favorite place of mine and it’s the U.S. Open; so yeah, I’ve been working a little bit."

Strange knows all about U.S. Open pressure. One of his favorite memories is the sand shot he made from the bunker at The Country Club on the 72nd hole to ensure a playoff with Nick Faldo.

"Of course there’s pressure," he said. "It’s our national championship. It’s the biggest tournament that we – Americans – can play in. There’s more at stake, so there’s more pressure."