In 1998 the rough was grown thick and long

As a result, rough was allowed to grow long and thick while undulating greens were packed hard and fast.

Though the ensuing disasters were good to watch, it led to a two-dimensional brand of golf which negated a large repertoire of touch shots.

Things came to a head in 1998 when the angled fairways at the Olympic Club were so hard that perfectly good drives bounced into thick rough, kept high right up to the greens.

Gone was the flare and feel of the traditional all-or-nothing recovery, instead there was only one shot possible, a flopped sand wedge.

The pin locations were branded ridiculous, as experienced by Payne Stewart on the 18th when he saw a putt roll up to the hole, stop for a second, and then come back to his feet.

1999: Thrilling climax

Things had to change and they did the following year at Pinehurst, designed by the Scot Donald Ross.

The trademark rough remained. But for the first time in several generations, the area around the signature greens was left untouched to encourage chipping.

In 1999, the winner Payne Stewart was the only man to break par

To protect them, the surfaces were domed, as they were at Ross' home course Royal Dornoch.

That meant only truly struck shots were rewarded; any with a hint of slice or draw fell away from the flag.

The strategy paid off and resulted in one of the most thrilling recent finishes to a US Open.

Payne Stewart and Phil Mickelson traded the lead a handful of times over the final nine holes.

But it was Stewart, who was to die later that year in a plane crash, who sunk a 15ft putt at the last to clinch his second US Open victory.

David Duval, number one in the world at the time, says his favourite US Open was at Pinehurst, "because you got to play.''

2000: Tiger Woods show

Last year the tournament moved back to Pebble Beach, its Pacific Ocean setting making it one of the most spectacular courses in the world.

Once again, only the winner was to break par.

In 2000, Tiger Woods blew the opposition away

But this time the winner was Woods.

He not only broke par, he smashed it in what a leading American sports magazine described as the "finest display in golf's history".

True, he was favoured by good weather while many of his rivals had gales and fog breaks with which to deal.

But his performance was almost flawless.

Moreover, the USGA's decision to keep the rough at moderate length enabled Woods to show off one of the most spectacular shots ever hit.

His seven-iron from 200 yards out of the rough, over a cliff and onto the par-5 sixth green was a joy to behold.

Woods is glad the USGA have seen the light regarding the rough.

"It allows you to gamble and to have a chance of doing something rather that just hack out, try to make par from 40 or 50 yards,'' he said.

2001: Longest hole in history

"It gives you that added risk factor that can lead to higher scores.

"You can go for it and make even worse mistakes using a longer club. It just makes the US Open a little bit more fun to play.''

This year, it will be the turn of Oklahoma's Southern Hills course to test the best

This year it is Southern Hills' chance to try and tame the world's number one, while still attempting to get the best out of the competitors.

"The last thing we want is players hitting sand wedge out of the rough,'' said Tom Meeks, the man responsible for setting up the course.

"What we want to do is challenge a player to try to hit the ball on the green with a shot he doesn't have control of.''

Defences are already in place.

The 655-yard par five 5th will be the longest hole in tournament history.

The 491-yard 16th would be a par five anywhere except a US Open.

The 18th, already one of the most difficult closing holes in championship golf, has been stretched 20 yards and given a steeply elevated green.

"We've taken one of the hardest finishing holes for a US Open golf course - and made it harder,'' says Meeks proudly.