MAMARONECK, N.Y. -- The U.S. Open doesn't return to Oakmont Country Club until next year, but club officials already are lobbying the United States Golf Association to make the greenside bunkers even more penal in 2007.

Oakmont wants to bring back furrowed bunkers for the 2007 U.S. Open, something that hasn't been used in the national championship since Oakmont did it in greenside bunkers only in the 1962 Open.

The only other time furrowed bunkers were used in an Open championship was in 1953, when Oakmont had the specially raked sand in every bunker on the course.

"We're pushing for it," said Oakmont pro Bob Ford, among the contingent of club officials who are attending the 106th U.S. Open that starts today at Winged Foot Golf Club.

Paul "Mickey" Pohl, Oakmont's chairman for the 2007 U.S. Open, met yesterday morning with Pete Bevacqua, the USGA's managing director of U.S. Open Championships, and discussed the possibility of bringing back furrowed bunkers in the greenside sand traps only.

But USGA president Walter Driver said yesterday, "We have not talked about doing that at our championships."

Oakmont still has some of the heavier wooden rakes with wider tines that make furrows in the sand, creating more uneven lies and tougher, inconsistent shots that produce less spin.

Jack Nicklaus created a stir among PGA Tour players two weeks ago when he had furrowed bunkers at Muirfield Village Golf Club for the Memorial. But the furrows appeared to have minimal effect on the players, once they got accustomed to the uneven sand.

The first-round sand save percentage was 36 percent, well below the PGA Tour average of 43.8 percent. But by the end of the Memorial, the four-round percentage was 43.8 percent, only slightly lower than the percentage for the 2005 Memorial (47.1) when furrowed bunkers were not employed.

"It impacted average scores by 0.14 [strokes] in the scoring of a round," Driver said, referring to the Memorial's statistics. "That's not a material difference in the actual scoring, based on that."

Els gets putting help

Ernie Els has not performed lately like a two-time U.S. Open, shooting 81 in the final round of the Memorial and not posting anything better than a top-seven finish in 10 starts on the PGA Tour this season. Even at the Masters, a tournament in which he has typically performed well, he shot 74-76 on the weekend and finished tied for 27th.

Els has putted so poorly he began working with sports psychologist Bob Rotella in an attempt to correct the problem.

"I mean, it's the shortest stroke in the game, the shortest little swing," Els said. "It should be the most simple stroke or swing. I'm trying to be maybe too perfect with my stroke and I got out of line with my stroke through the ball."

About Rotella, who works with a number of PGA Tour players, Els said, "He's given me a couple little exercises just to go through, just to free up the stroke a little bit, to be a little more natural with the stroke.

Course alterations

The USGA will keep the Stimpmeter speed at 12 for nearly every green at Winged Foot. The only exception will be at the 423-yard opening hole, which has a long, narrow green that slopes treacherously from front to back and has two pronounced undulations running vertically through the surface.

"We are keeping the green speed [at No. 1] a little bit slower than the other green speeds and we have notified the players of this," said Jim Hyler, chairman of the USGA championship committee. "When they registered they received some information to tell them the first green would be a little bit slower because of the severe slope."

The USGA also will juggle some tee locations at several holes, including the 216-yard third where a back tee from 243 yards will be used for one day of the championship. Also, the par-5 12th will play two days from 571 yards and two days from 640 yards -- making it the second-longest par 5 in U.S. Open history (the fifth hole at Southern Hills is 642 yards).

"We think moving it up for a couple days will add a little bit of excitement and a little spice to the players," Hyler said.

Former caddie competes

When he was a teenager in California, Dillon Dougherty used to caddie for Tiger Woods in Stanford matches. Today, he will be competing against him after earning an exemption into the U.S. Open.

Dougherty, 23, who recently graduated from Northwestern, gained an automatic spot in the Masters and U.S. Open because he was runner-up to Edoardo Molinari of Italy in the 2005 U.S. Amateur championship.

"I guess I'm getting older," said Woods, who is 30. "I think it's pretty neat that he qualified and got in the event and earned his way here. Hopefully he can play better than how I played when he caddied for me."