By John Erardi
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Tiger Woods gets a high five from his caddie after hitting his second shot to less than a foot from the hole on the par-5 15th. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

DUBLIN, Ohio - The third biggest topic of conversation at Muirfield Village Golf Club - after the weather and Tiger Woods - was the U.S. Open.

It will be held in two weeks at Olympia Fields in Illinois.

For all the talk about how Jack Nicklaus' Memorial tournament here is a "fifth major," it is a distant fifth.

That's because it is a prep for the U.S. Open. Players are gearing up for it. It was Nicklaus who made the emphasis on majors.

Woods, who shot a 65 Sunday, proclaimed himself all but ready for it. "Even if I would have posted a 70 or 71 (Sunday), I would have been pleased," Woods said. "I got a good number (65) because I made some putts.

"I'm sure the USGA will have it (the greens at Olympia Fields) a lot firmer than (Muirfield) with this rain that we had. You can still stop 5-irons in there (at Muirfield), 6-irons, with no problem. That won't be the case (at Olympia Fields). The USGA has their way (of toughening things up)."

Lee Janzen, who finished two strokes behind Memorial winner Kenny Perry, said he likes his chances at the Open.

HOT SAUCE

When Perry won the Colonial last week, he chartered a plane to fly from Dallas to Bowling Green, Ky. His wife had pulled all his Tabasco-signature shirts from his closet and given them to family and friends who met him at the airport.

These were the shirts Perry had worn during the Colonial that the TV commentators had been ripping on.

He wore Tabasco shirts during the Memorial, too. "This time, I won't be getting home until Monday morning," Perry said. "I'm driving. They won't know when I will get there. I will fly under the radar and slide right home."

He's a huge favorite in Franklin, Ky., off I-65 near the Tennessee border.

"I had my (tour) card in '84 and '85, (but) I (lost it and was) down on my luck," Perry said. "I went to a (church) elder and said I would like to try the (qualifying) school one more time.

"He gave me $5,000. He said, 'If you don't make the tour, you don't owe me a dime.' But if you make the tour, we are going to give a percentage back.' I blitzed through all the qualifying stages and made it through and made it on tour. So now I have given $550,000 (to) the Lipscomb University Scholarship fund (in Nashville)."

He has sent 13 students through Lipscomb on scholarships.