US Open / Paul Krishnamurty / 17 June 2009 /

A mixture of poor records, inexperience and fading form among his rivals leave Tim Clark as the South Africa to have on your side at Bethpage, says Paul Krishnamurty.

Among the seven South Africans in the US Open field, four have enough top-class form to be given claims of some sort to win the event. The most recent PGA Tour winner amongst them is Rory Sabbatini, who landed last month's Byron Nelson Championship. However, as he's never made the top-50 in seven US Open attempts, Rory looks the least likeliest contender of the four.

Ernie Els and Retief Goosen have many golden memories of US Opens; not least four titles between them; and remain perfectly capable of challenging even if their very best days look behind them. Neither could exactly be described as being in peak form though. Goosen did win the Transitions Championship in March, but hasn't made a top-10 since. As for Els, he's looked a pale shadow of his former self all year, though at least there was some encouragement on his most recent start at the Memorial.

Tim Clark is a much less illustrious figure than these compatriots, but at around [5.0] rates the best value to top his country's list. In good form, having finished runner-up on his penultimate start, Clark has already shown the ideal accurate game to prosper in a US Open. He's made the top-20 on three of six attempts in this major, including third at Pinehurst in 2005.

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