Woods is just one of many story lines as golf’s U.S. Open returns to Bethpage Black this week

The U.S. Open golf tournament will engage for the 109th time next week in Farmingdale, N.Y., some 35 miles east of downtown Metropolis. It would be silly to suggest there never has been an edition of this USGA survival camp with more compelling stories. But it is safe to say this “People’s Open” at the infamous Black Course at Bethpage State Park rivals any Open in recent memory for juice. The most obvious headline is the return of Tiger Woods to the scene of the sublime. The incomparable Woods punctuated an already profound career with the epic U.S. Open championship last June at Torrey Pines. Playing with torn ligaments and a stress fracture in his left knee, Woods wobbled to his 14th major title and a playoff victory over Joe the Golfer, aka Rocco Mediate. Afterward, Woods went under the knife and off the radar, shutting down for the rest of the year. Eight months of rest and rehabilitation later, Woods re-entered the arena in March. He has played in six stroke-play tournaments since, winning two and finishing top-10 in the four others. Moreover, since a tie for 12th at the 2007 British Open, Woods has played in 17 PGA Tour stroke play events, winning 10 and finishing top-10 in the seven others. Moreover again, he comes to Bethpage as a double-entendre reigning champion, having won the Open the last time it was conducted on Long Island’s monstrous municipal in 2002. Woods went wire-to-wire and finished 3-under par, the only player still standing in the red. Moreover once more, he won The Memorial last week by hitting 49 of 56 fairways and shooting a Sunday 65. Woods with fairways attached to the end of his driver is like Albert Pujols with a corked bat. Calling Woods the player to beat at Bethpage seems inadequate. He is fooling with foregone conclusion status. Not only is Woods back on U.S. Open soil, so is Mediate. The 46-year old journeyman who lost the 19-hole playoff to Woods hasn’t done much since golf-wise. But he has a second career now, having co-authored “Are You Kidding Me?,” a book in which he relives his Cinderfella tussle at Torrey Pines. “I would love to have an opportunity going into the weekend to compete for that trophy again,” Mediate said during a conference call. “And I really do believe — and I know I’m 46 and, blah, blah, blah — but I hit it plenty far enough and do plenty of good things that I can compete in these things.” Intriguing as the 2008 flashback is, the sentimental story is the presence of Phil Mickelson. Often tormented by this national championship — he has finished second four times — Mickelson’s season took a dramatic turn with the news his wife, Amy, has been diagnosed with breast cancer. “Lefty” immediately pulled the plug on his PGA Tour schedule in late May to be at home with Amy and the couple’s three children. However, Amy Mickelson’s condition is stable enough that surgery has been pushed to early July. In the meantime, the Mickelsons have elected to restore some sense of normalcy to their lives, a routine that otherwise will be compromised when Amy undergoes treatment over the next many months. “Normalcy” is a relative term. “I’ve never been this emotional, where if I’m driving alone or what have you, I’ll just start crying,” Mickelson said during a press conference last week. “We’re scared, yeah. I think a lot of it is the unknown.” From an emotional standpoint, Mickelson clearly will be the people’s choice at the “People’s Open.” PGA Tour players wore pink as a show of support for the Mickelsons at the recent Colonial in Fort Worth, Texas. During the ‘02 Open at Bethpage, the California native enjoyed rock star status with the Gotham galleries. Regardless of how he plays this coming week, the Open figures to be a group hug for Mickelson. Bethpage itself will share the spotlight. The A. W. Tillinghast-designed and Rees Jones-revitalized Black Course is 7,426 yards in length with dramatic elevation changes. Many consider the test the most difficult a U.S. Open setup has to offer. In ‘02, when playing into the wind, several players could not cover a 240-yard carry to the fairway on No. 10, a 508-yard par-4. The brutish grounds clearly favored the bombers, especially under wet conditions. But USGA senior director of rules and competitions Mike Davis said there is more flexibility built into the blueprints this time. “If you look at the two Open setups, we believe there will be more risk-and-reward shots than in 2002,” Davis said. “If you look at it and say, ‘OK, what’s going to really be different this time?’ You’ll see things like graduated rough, lots of flexibility on the teeing grounds, which will give players a chance to really think about what they’re going to do, which we didn’t have in 2002.” Need more to tweak your interest? How about the return of David Duval? Once the No. 1 player in the world, Duval will be competing in his first Open since 2006 after shooting 66-69 in Columbus, Ohio to get through sectional qualifying. Duval’s last top-20 finish on the PGA Tour was at that same 2006 Open at Winged Foot. He has made only nine cuts in his last 33 starts. Or how about Champions Tour star Fred Funk? At age 52, Funk is the oldest in the field, earning one of the seven qualifying spots in Rockville, Md. Funk is tied for 54th in driving distance on the Champions Tour with an average of 272.4 yards. Best of luck, Freddie. And then there is the unusual case of Andrew Svoboda, who will find out Sunday if he has a tee time at Bethpage. With sectional qualifying complete, 155 players are currently in the field for the Open, leaving one berth unfilled. The USGA keeps a spot open in case the winner of the St. Jude Classic in Memphis this week qualifies with a victory. If not, the ticket goes to the first alternate. But the identity of that player in waiting has not been revealed. Last year, Svoboda was the first alternate from the sectional tournament in Purchase, N.Y. When Justin Leonard won in Memphis, Svoboda got the call to assume position 156 at Torrey Pines. Sure enough, Svoboda was the first alternate in Purchase again last week. Will he win the lottery two years in a row? Inquiring U.S. Open minds want to know.