USPGA Championship:  The terrain changes, but the desire doesn't. It never wilts. On each visit to a major championship this season - Augusta National, Pinehurst No2, St Andrews and, now, Baltusrol - Tiger Woods has exuded a confidence reminiscent of old.

It may not intimidate players as it did half-a-decade ago, when the greatest player of his generation took that so-called "Tiger Slam" in 2000, yet there is no question that he is the justifiable favourite going into the 87th US PGA Championship which starts today on the Lower Course at Baltusrol Golf Club, in New Jersey.

Who can argue with the facts? Woods won the US Masters, finished second (with a cold putter) in the US Open, and won the British Open. So, as ever, he is again the man to beat. It's seldom any other way, of course, and that is simply a fact of life.

As Vijay Singh, the defending champion and hardly a bosom buddy of his nemesis, remarked on the eve of what the PGA call 'glory's last shot', "Tiger's the best player in the golf game right now . . . he's proven it over and over again. I just think he's a great golfer."

In reality, though, it's not as if everyone else is backing off (not just yet at any rate!) and playing for second place. And Singh, more than anyone, knows that. On a course that measures 7,376 yards with a par of 70, with the fairways measuring between 25 and 30 yards and the rough mainly consisting of Kentucky Blue Grass and Perennial Rye that is notoriously difficult for players to play out of, it's a track that will favour ball-strikers.

But it's also something of a Catch-22 situation: they need to be long off the tee, but accurate enough to avoid the rough. "It's a course where you have to hit a lot of drivers," said Sergio Garcia, "because, if not, you're going to be having very long clubs into the greens."

Woods had no doubt as to what would be required to conquer the beefed-up course, which has been lengthened by 240 yards since Lee Janzen won the last major to be here, the US Open in 1993. "The guys who are driving the ball well and on top of that a little bit higher are certainly going to have an advantage," said Woods.

So, other than Woods, that brings the likes of Singh into the equation. And Retief Goosen, Garcia, Phil Mickelson - "winning this week could change my perception of the way I feel about my performance in the four majors and do a 180 (degree turn) this year," he said - Adam Scott, Darren Clarke and Kenny Perry, a noted ball-striker who won earlier this season at Bay Hill, a course that has many similarities to here. It's far from a one horse race.

As Padraig Harrington - one of four Irish players in the field, along with Clarke, Paul McGinley and, injury permitting, Graeme McDowell - acknowledged of the demands of a course that has two par fours of over 500 yards and a monstrous par five of 650 yards as its penultimate hole, "there's not a huge amount of wedge shots out there, that's for sure, and that's something that would normally be a pretty strong part of my game."

The added length is typified by the challenge presented by the 17th hole, now the longest par five in the history of major championship golf. There's nothing strategic about it. Once you thread your tee shot by a redwood that intimidates off the drive, most players will play it as a genuine three-shot to the green par five. In practice, John Daly was one of the few players to have a crack for the green in two - but failed - and Mickelson, for one, was of the opinion that it wouldn't tempt anyone during the championship itself.

"The 17th will not be hit in two shots this week at all. I just don't see how it is possible. There's maybe two or three guys who'd have a chance and even they would have to be missing the cut by 10 shots to even try it," claimed Mickelson.

The 17th alone won't decide the outcome of this final major of the year, though. "I think the PGA is a very fair test of golf," remarked Singh, adding: "I think the PGA is always one step behind (the USGA) in taking it to the edge and I guess a lot of guys enjoy playing the PGA better than the US Open . . . set-up wise, I think the PGA is far better. It's tough, it's a stern test of golf, but at the same time it is very, very fair."

Singh and Woods are the two obvious contenders for the $1.17million top prize, and both are the only two players to have secured top-10 finishes in all three of this season's majors. Woods -1st-2nd-1st - has the edge, but Singh - who has gone 5th-6th-5th - showed in winning last time out, in the Buick Open, that he had finally found a cure for his one weakness: putting! The new mallet putter that was put into his bag for that win, where he stared down Woods, has offered renewed hope and heightened his expectation going into the defence of his title.

Woods, though, remains an imposing presence. He's seeking his third win in four majors - the drought is well and truly over - and this is a course that immediately fits his eye. "It's one of the old-school golf courses where it is right in front of you . . . there's no hidden tricks, no elephant burial mounds that we have to play now on some golf courses. It's a very fair test. I can see why some of the guys who have done well, who have played well consistently here over the years, have been great ball-strikers." In saying that, Woods could have been looking in a mirror.