The golfers preparing to tee it up in today’s first round of the 99th U.S. Open have approached this moment from many routes.

Some of them have worked so hard on their game that they’ve formed blisters over calluses. Some have spent days with their swing gurus. Some have spent hours with their mental trainers.

Tom Watson took a different tack, simply taking Wednesday off to review old data he had gathered from previous trips around the Donald Ross layout.

While any of them would be delighted to begin the four-day journey over Pinehurst No. 2 with a "Route 66," no one is quite sure what to expect this week. The course is set up like no other Open course of the past.

There is no precedence in USGA history of a course with medium-length rough and fairways that a 15-handicapper could hit. What the scores will be is anyone’s guess, and there was a lot of that going around on the eve of Pinehurst’s grandest hour.

Greg Norman, whose game right now is as much a question as is the golf course, thinks everyone — players and fans alike — is in for a special Championship.

"Overall, of all the U.S. Opens that I’ve played in, this is by far the best, by tenfold," Norman said. "I think they’ve done a phenomenal job in the setup of the course. They’ve maintained the integrity of Donald Ross and the way you should play it.

"This is the best U.S. Open layout I’ve seen, and that’s pretty much the word on the driving range and the putting green. Everybody is in agreement that it’s going to be a fantastic Open. It’s going to be more of an international Open. A lot more players could win this tournament than we’ve seen in the past. And I think that’s a credit to the USGA for setting the course up the way they have."

Even after two days of intermittent light rain, Norman feels the course is living up to its reputation.

"It has softened it up to a degree," he said, "but the greens have enough speed that I think you have to be very careful where you hit the ball. You have to be careful where you mis-hit your shots. You don’t want to long on any one of the greens by any means."

More showers were predicted for today but the long-range outlook is for sunny skies all weekend.

"The course isn’t as fiery right now as what they’d probably like to have," Norman said. "But I think it will improve the next couple of days."

The USGA is expecting slow play this week, especially with the players having to make decisions on which club to use for the delicate recovery shots around the greens. The norm is expected to be just over five hours.

Norman figures that’s about right.

"You just learn to deal with it," he said. "You walk slower. Sometimes you’re just going to be in a position where you might have to take that extra time.

"But everybody is going to be in the same situation. Not everybody is going to hit every fairway and every green. We’ll be put in the position where we have to wait for somebody to get up and down off the edge of a green. I don’t think there’s any secret about what you do; it’s just being patient."

Norman missed last year’s Open at Olympic Club in San Francisco because of shoulder surgery, so he’s just happy to be back in time for this one.

"You don’t like sitting out major championships," he said. "You like to be in the thick of things. Whether it’s a golf course that you love or hate, it’s the U.S. Open. It was just one of those deals that you have to play the cards you were dealt. So, I just sat back."

Norman stops short of predicting a player he feels best equipped to win this week.

"Right now, I’d probably say there are 30 guys who have the ability to win here," he said. "Pretty much all the guys drive the ball long and straight, but a lot of the top echelon players have very good short games. You look at anybody that’s got creativity – Jose Maria (Olazabal) comes to mind because of the shots he played around Augusta National; the little bump and run shots. He’s got the visualization, imagination and creativity.

"But there’s 30 guys here this week; I can’t rattle off the 30 names, but you can go down the top 30 and say everyone has a chance to win here."

One of those is Nick Price, although he was discouraged by his play in the final tune-up round Wednesday.

"You have to be a little ticked off to have been playing so well a couple of weeks ago and then come here and not have it," Price said. "I was spraying balls all over the place today."

Price still doesn’t think the winner will be very much under par.

"I think this course can be made to play so difficult that anyone who starts fast will come back to the field," he said. "If someone shoots 10 under the first two days, he may shoot 10 over during the weekend. The USGA has always done that."