Players who have chance to break through at U.S. Open

THEY WARM UP on the launching pad, rocket into the sky, explode into a thousand shiny sparks . . . then, most often, they just sort of drift back to Earth.

There is nothing wrong with Earth, of course. Not every golfer can exist in the stratosphere of Phil Mickelson, and none has ever reached the orbit of Tiger Woods.

But some seem to tickle the upper edge of the troposphere, find it a little too cold for their liking and descend to a more comfortable cruising altitude.

At Merion, given its fickle lines and its alien status, one of those players gliding just below the game's superstars has an excellent chance to break through.

But breaking through isn't the only issue. Maintaining a high level of play after a big win calls for fortitude and focus that few have managed.

Consider Hunter Mahan, ranked 22 in the world entering today's U.S. Open start, having earned more than $1.8 million in his 15 events this season. Mahan followed the biggest win of his career, the 2010 WGC Bridgestone Invitational, with 18 months of solid, if unspectacular play, missing three of five cuts in major championships, without a top-10 finish in the other two.

Before last year's U.S Open, Mahan had been flying high, with a win at the WGC Accenture Match Play event and the Shell Houston Open, which pushed him from 22nd in the world to fourth. He then missed the cut at The Players Championship and in the five majors since his last win he has missed two cuts and has had no top-10s.

"When you win a tournament, especially a match-play tournament when so much of the focus is on you and just one other guy, it's a test," said Mahan, who won Shell just over a month after the match play. "You have to focus on really being grounded."

Perhaps that is the current issue with Rory McIlroy, with a major championship in each of the past two seasons, a superstar girlfriend (ninth-ranked tennis player Caroline Wozniacki), a megadeal with Nike . . . and wildly erratic play in 11 starts this season. However, McIlroy has won six other times and hasn't been outside the top 5 in the world since he won the U.S. Open in 2011, and he held the top spot for 39 weeks in the past 2 years.

Still, he knows he has some re-entry burns in 2013. The most difficult aspect of approaching Tiger's orbit?

"It's the managing the expectations, probably, of myself and of other people," McIlroy said. "Coming off the back of a great year last year, and I guess expecting myself to emulate that or even try and do better. It hasn't really happened so far."

Similarly, a player such as Martin Kaymer tasted the top spot for 8 weeks in early 2011 after wins in the Netherlands and Abu Dhabi followed his PGA Championship breakout. Since losing the No. 1 ranking, he has flashed once, at the 2011 WCG in Shanghai, but now occupies No. 34.

Bubba Watson jumped from 18th to fourth with his win at the 2012 Masters, but since has managed just four top-10s in 24 stroke-play events and has missed five cuts, including last year's U.S. Open, nestling him at 16th this week.

Jason Dufner surged to No. 8 last year after two midseason wins and a fourth-place finish at the U.S. Open, but his career has since slowed like T-1 Internet service, to borrow from his Comcast commercial.

Luke Donald, who helped keep the top spot away from Kaymer and held it for 55 weeks in 2011 and 2012, has steadily slid since August of last year, winning once, on the Japan Tour. He's sixth now.

Kaymer might clinically dissect Merion. Bubba might devour it. Dufner could plod it to death.

Could Donald win at Merion? Certainly, since the course is not as penal as most major tracks for shorter hitters, and since he has a magical short game and since, even having missed two of his last six cuts, he has finished in the top 10 six times in his last 15 starts (counting Japan).

So could Mahan, who is wiser and tougher for his trials of late.

"I've learned that you have to take golf one day at a time, and focus on getting better at it, and not think one week solves your problems and you're going to be the best player in the world," he said.

He might be ranked 12 spots lower than he was at last year's U.S. Open, but he might be a better player nonetheless. He ranks among the top 30 on the Tour in putting, up nearly 100 spots from last year, and he is making more birdies.

"I feel like I have a wide range of shots," Mahan said. "I don't need to hit it great to score well. Mentally, I'm better. Every experience is going to make you better, no matter if it looks negative to everyone else."

No matter how long it takes.

Blog: ph.ly/DNL

hayesm@phillynews.com

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