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Back to defend: Time does fly. Graeme McDowell can attest to that.The 12 months as the U.S. Open taylormade r9 on salechampion has been a lot of fun, and it's been busy. It's just flown by," McDowell said Tuesday. "I can't believe I'm sitting in here again at the USGA Media Center. It's crazy that it's gone by as quickly as it has. I certainly tried to savor it and enjoy it as much as I could."

The 2010 U.S. Open champion from Northern Ireland closes out a year of superlatives, that only started with his major title, as he defends his title at Congressional Country Club. "Can I ever top 2010?" McDowell said Tuesday. "I probably can't top the way it felt to win my first major championship, to hole the winning putt at the Ryder Cup … to win two or three other times outside of that. I probably can't top that feeling. "Defending a U.S. Open title is no easy feat. It has't been done since Curtis Strange won back to back in 1988-89. McDowell doesn't seem concerned about that stat, or the expected glare.

Kaymer said almost anyone can win, young, old, lefty or righty, starting with Phil Mickelson, a four-time major champ and a record five-time U.S. Open runner-up. Or the top two players in the world, No. 1 Luke Donald and No. 2 Lee Westwood, each chasing their first major. No. 4 Steve Stricker, who won this year's Memorial, can break his major maiden on the strength of his short game. Three-time major winner Ernie Els, in 1997, won the last time Congressional hosted the U.S. Open.And the list goes on.

As players descended this taylormade r11 driver 2011 week on historic Congressional Country Club some 10 miles north of the White House, a prohibiitive favorite to win the 111th edition of the national championship wasn't among them. Don't expect a late arriving favorite to pop up, either.With the dominance of Tiger Woods and his 14 major titles a fading memory, and with the former world No. 1 tending to multiple leg injuries in his Florida home, the second major championship of the season figures to have contenders from all corners. Reigning PGA Championship winner Martin Kaymer thinks 30-40 players are viable contenders. Consider:

10 players have won the last 10 majors."With Tiger not being dominant, others stepped up," defending champion Graeme McDowell said. "It was getting pretty tough to win major championships when he was playing the way he was.And I think the 21st Century golfer is a lot more ready for the PGA Tour, the younger players are so much more ready for the Tour when they come out. They play professional events, they know how to win, and they're not scared anymore."

Kaymer is No. 3 in the world and already has PGA Championship hardware. K.J. Choi won The Players Championship this year and won the 2007 AT&T National at Congressional. Anthony Kim won the 2008 AT&T National at Congressional. Sergio Garcia won the 2005 Booz Allen Classic at Congressional. And Matt Kuchar, Dustin Johnson, Paul Casey, Rory McIlroy, Ian Poulter, two-time 2011 Tour winner Bubba Watson, Hunter Mahan, Nick Watney and Charl Schwartzel, the only player who can win the Grand Slam this year after winning the Masters, all have legitimate shots.

" American golf uk Golf is in such a good position at the moment because it's so volatile you can get a different winner every week," said Westwood, who has four top-3s in his last six starts in majors. "It is part of the challenge of the game at the moment, I think. But if I could pick out a favorite, I'd be working for (European betting parlor) Paddy Power."

"It's bizarre because if anything I feel like the glare is off me this week," he said. "I feel like — defending titles is a strange psyche because, I mean, I've got nothing to defend this week. I'm level par Thursday morning the same as everyone else. I'm just one of the guys trying to win it."After some spring struggles — three missed cuts in five PGA Tour events, including the Masters — McDowell believes he is finding some answers."I've really got to reset my goals and realize that consistent golf is what it's all about, and you don't have to win every week to be a top player," he said.