By Greg Robertson
ESPN Golf Online
Sunday, July 9

Details
When	Thursday-Sunday
Course	Cog HIll Golf & Country Club, Lemont, Ill.
Par/Yardage	Par 72; 7,073 yards
Purse	$3 million (Winner: $540,000)
1999 champion	Tiger Woods
Tournament record	20-under 268 (Sam Snead, 1949)
Television	Thursday-Friday: 4-6 p.m. ET (ESPN) Saturday: 4-6 p.m. ET (ABC) Sunday: 3-6 p.m. ET (ABC)

The tournament

	Hole by hole
	Hole	Par	Yards
	1	4	420
	2	3	177
	3	4	415
	4	4	416
	5	5	525
	6	3	213
	7	4	410
	8	4	378
	9	5	568
	Out	36	3522
	10	4	372
	11	5	564
	12	3	209
	13	4	446
	14	3	192
	15	5	519
	16	4	409
	17	4	388
	18	4	452
	In	36	3551
	Total	72	7073
	Key holes: With the par-5s pretty easy on Cog Hill, the most difficult holes are the par-4s. Two of the toughest come on the back in Nos. 13 and 18. The 13th features a small green tucked behind water to the left, a ravine in front and sand to the right. And that comes after a narrow landing area off the tee. No. 18 looks easier than it plays. It slopes to the right toward water and -- at 452 yards -- requires longer clubs to attack the green than most par-4s.

There's a lot of history surrounding the Western Open, and much of it is being made by the defending champion.

The oldest tournament on the PGA Tour, the Western Open dates back to 1899 when Willie Smith won a playoff with Laurie Auchterlonie at Glen View Golf Club in Chicago after both finished 36 holes tied at 12-over 156. For its first 60-plus years, the Western Open was played at courses all across the country, from a variety of Midwest locales to San Francisco, Los Angeles and Phoenix.

But in 1961, the tournament settled in the suburbs of Chicago, played on a variety of courses until settling on Butler National in 1974, then Cog Hill in 1991.

It has been the site of two of the 20 career titles by Tiger Woods, who won here in both 1997 and 1999. He is back this year, playing in competition for the first time since his record-setting week at Pebble Beach. It is also his last PGA Tour stop before the British Open, where he will attempt to complete a career Grand Slam.

Woods has plenty of company when it comes to big names this week. Phil Mickelson, Fred Couples, Vijay Singh, Tom Lehman and Nick Price are just some of the headliners using Cog Hill as a final tuneup for St. Andrews.

Just what they will find at Cog Hill will depend on the weather. Hot and muggy is the norm, and it makes for a difficult challenge under those conditions. With par-5s that are birdie opportunities, success at Cog Hill will come down to finding the narrow fairways, avoiding the large trees and finding the slick greens.

Woods did that with precision last year, coasting to a three-shot win over Mike Weir despite shooting just 71 on Sunday. A 66 on Friday sandwiched around a pair of 68s had put Woods in a comfortable position heading into the final round.

Next week, the PGA Tour remains in the Midwest for the Greater Milwaukee Open, although most of the big names will be in Europe by then, either resting up for St. Andrews or playing the Loch Lomond as a tuneup. That includes Notah Begay III, the winner of back-to-back events, who is skipping this week before Loch Lomond and the British Open await.

Players not crossing the pond for the year's third major will have an opportunity in the States that week with the BC Open taking place at the same time.

A dozen players to watch
Stuart Appleby: Appleby has just a pair of top-10 finishes this year, and one of those came in the second week of January. He was Woods' closest pursuer last year until a 77 on Sunday knocked him back to 13th.

Fred Couples: Couples has been playing consistent golf of late, but he hasn't had a big tournament this year. In his last three starts, he finished eighth at the Memorial and 16th at both Westchester and the U.S. Open.

Steve Flesch: A tie for fifth last week at Hartford was Flesch's eighth top-10 finish of the season. Only Tiger Woods and Jesper Parnevik have more. Now if Flesch could just get that first win, he'd be in great shape.

Jim Furyk: Furyk finished fourth last week at Hartford, his third fourth-place finish of the year. He has a win at Doral among his eight top-10 finishes and should score well at Cog Hill with his accurate driving.

Tom Lehman: Lehman has cooled off after a blistering start to the 2000 season, with six early top-10 finishes and a win in Phoenix. With the British Open just two weeks off, expect some quality play from the 1996 Open champion.

Billy Mayfair: It's been a frustrating season for Mayfair, whose best finish has been 10th at both Phoenix and Bay Hill. Mayfair has yet to put together four solid rounds in one week, but maybe a return to Cog Hill where he won in 1995 will do the trick.

Phil Mickelson: Mickelson hasn't played since a disappointment at the U.S. Open, where he went in with high hopes and left with a tie for 16th. Mickelson has three wins this year and is one of the few who has beaten Tiger Woods head-to-head this year.

Nick Price: Price's mind has been elsewhere in recent weeks with political problems in his home country, but his game has still been OK with a pair of third-place finishes. He won at Cog Hill in both 1993 and 1994, two of the five times Greg Norman was runnerup here.

Vijay Singh: The Masters champion finished fourth a Cog Hill last year. After a strong start to 2000, he hasn't done much since his big win at Augusta. He's still getting used to a long putter and surgically repaired vision.

Jeff Sluman: Sluman hasn't been bad this year, he just hasn't contended. He has a half-dozen top-20 finishes, but nothing in the top 10. That could change at Cog Hill, where the Chicago resident will play at home.

Mike Weir: Weir has put together a solid season with six top-10 finishes, but he hasn't been in the hunt on Sunday afternoon. He finished second in this event last year, the only player to put any pressure on Woods.

Tiger Woods: What's not to like about Woods this week? He's the best player in the world, is playing for the first time since shattering the U.S. Open record books, and is a two-time champion of this event, winning in both 1997 and 1999.