Lenny Ignelzi / AP

Tiger Woods pulls out his driver on the fourth tee while playing a practice round on the North Course at Torrey Pines while practicing for the Buick Invitational on Tuesday.

What he does at Augusta every April is incredible, because the game there is such a precise test and so demanding a putting challenge. Yet in his last seven trips to Augusta National, Woods has three wins, a second, a third, and nothing worse than a tie for 22d. Consider that in that stretch Woods is 8-under for the first two rounds and 27-under for weekend and you have an idea as to how he makes his presence felt.

To favor him at Birkdale is no mystery. He’s the best damn links player in the world, because in no other style of golf do pure ball-striking and imagination go hand in hand and when you offer an endless list of his strengths, ball-striking and imagination are near the top. He owns three Claret Jugs already and will probably have six or more by the time he’s finished with this pro golf business.

Woods will be a huge favorite come June when the U.S. Open visits LaJolla on the outskirts of San Diego, but I’ll go against the grain and envision a victory by someone else. Yes, he shines at Torrey Pines’ South Course, but Buick Invitationals are not set up by USGA folks, who even when they’re praised for fairness take things close to over the top. The rough will be up, the greens will be firm, and birdies will be as common as summer snow in San Diego — which is another way of saying don’t look for any.

The USGA has its formula down to a science, thus could its officials walk onto your local muni tomorrow and set it up so that 278-285 would be the winning score after 72 holes. There’s a reason why Woods has won the U.S. Open fewer times (two) than any of the other major championships and it’s not because the courses are the toughest. No, it’s because the U.S. Open requires the least amount of imagination and closes its doors to various styles of play so that the majority of the field attempts follow a blueprint of fairways and greens and that tends to provide for a jammed field where even great ball-striking can’t offer separation.

Can he win at Oakland Hills? Hell, yes. He could win on a layout stretched atop and down through the Grand Canyon.

But it’s not so much where he plays as it is what he is playing against — and that’s the law of averages. As great as he is — and he’s the best the game has ever known — winning major golf championships involve so many factors that rest outside his control (weather, course conditions, improbable shots by an opponent) that it’s difficult to envision even the great Tiger Woods pulling off the Grand Slam.

At least not this year.