Tiger Woods returns to the scene of his greatest performance for this week's US Open at Pebble Beach, no longer necessarily the man to beat but a definite threat to win his 16th major title.

Woods' form at the recent Memorial tournament, where he tied for ninth, combined with his love for and knowledge of Pebble Beach suggest he will not be far away come Sunday on the fabled California coast.

When he won by a record 15 strokes in 2000, Woods could smash his drives further than pretty much everyone else, though that played only a minor role in his emphatic runaway success, so otherworldly was he in every facet of the game.

But distance off the tee should not matter at Pebble Beach, a short course by modern standards where accuracy off the tee will be more important than length.

After he won the Masters in April, ending a decade-long major victory drought, talk immediately turned to whether the 43-year-old could add to his major tally this year.

Last month's PGA Championship was always going to be the least likely of the other majors to suit him, due to the length of the course and damp to boot after heavy rain.

Added to that, Woods was not fully prepared either physically or emotionally, having not played a tournament between Augusta and Bethpage.

But there is about as much chance of his not being prepared for Pebble Beach as there is of it raining during the tournament - namely next to zero.

With a victory Woods would join Willie Anderson, Bobby Jones, Ben Hogan and Jack Nicklaus with a record four Open victories.

He would also move within two major titles of catching all-time leader Nicklaus on 18.

That mark seemed almost a formality for Woods a decade ago after he won the 2008 US Open for his 14th major title.

A well-documented sex scandal and then a subsequent potentially career-ending back injury, however, kept him from adding to his tally for more than a decade. But just when Nicklaus' record seemed safe, Woods put it back into play with his Masters triumph.

To win his 16th major he will have to regain the assured putting touch he displayed in 2000 on Pebble Beach's bumpy poa annua grass greens.