On most golf courses and at most tournaments, par is a number for PGA Tour players to scoff at. At Oakmont Country Club and at the U.S. Open, par is a number to strive for.

Before rain softened the course a little, Vijay Singh said the winning score at this weekend's U.S. Open could be 10 over par. Conditions on Thursday actually allowed a few players to shoot below par. But the U.S. Open is still going to be a tournament where very few of the numbers posted this week will be red.

It's fascinating for television viewers, who can watch their favorite players struggle to survive just as they do on their muni course.

"I think the golf spectators here and the people at home watching television truly enjoy watching the players face this kind of challenge," NBC's Roger Maltbie said this week. "I don't know if they'd want to see it every week, but to see the players struggle and have to work for par and pay a heavy penalty for shots misplayed, I think, is very compelling.

"One thing we don't see very much (on the tour) is defensive skills. It's not just all about playing offense: getting it close to the hole, having the ball stop in close proximity to where you landed it and making birdies. Playing defensive golf, playing that's very strategic I have to put my ball at Point A so I can get to Point B. If I don't get to Point B, I better have a good Point C where it ends up and anyplace else is going to lead to a bad score.'

"To watch the players faced with that kind of a challenge, this is the ultimate example of that and I think it's very entertaining myself. I enjoy watching it a great deal."

NBC's Johnny Miller weighed in with his own judgment of par at Oakmont, which many call the toughest golf course in America.

"I don't believe it's par 70 myself," he said. "People can call it par 70 and on the scorecard it says par 70, but if this isn't a par 71 or 72, I've never seen one."

Of course, for Miller to talk about par at Oakmont is almost absurd because it was Miller who in 1973 shot a 63 in the final round to come from six strokes back and win the U.S. Open at Oakmont. It remains the lowest final round in Open history.

"It was voted the greatest round for the centennial celebration of golf, so for me that was enough validation," Miller said. "I know how good the round was. It was such an unbelievable ball-striking round. I hit it right underneath literally every hole. I mean dead underneath the hole. And it was the best ball striking I've ever seen and I've been around a little bit. It was unreal.

"It was like a magical round. It was always thought of as the hardest course in America and if you shoot the lowest round in U.S. Open history, (you'd think) that would be the last place you could do it, especially in the last round."

Not exactly a modest evaluation, but viewers and players have come to know if not admire Miller for his frank golf analysis. The anniversary of his 63 made Miller a big pre-tournament story and inspired several TV features this week.

Interestingly, one of the most extensive profiles at 10 p.m. Wednesday on HBO's "Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel" deals only with Miller's broadcasting, not his playing.

It starts off with a look back at Phil Mickelson's collapse at last year's U.S. Open and Miller's words: "I tell you what right now: Ben Hogan officially has rolled over in his grave."

Miller uses words like "choke" and "puke" and it's not surprising today's players aren't always crazy to hear themselves attached to those descriptions. But in the HBO profile, Singh says Miller knows all too well what players are thinking on the course.

"His comments may not be pleasing to a lot of players because what goes through our head is what he knows goes through our head," says Singh. "And you know, a lot of times you just don't want to hear the truth."

U.S. Open TV coverage continues today on ESPN at 7 a.m. and 2 p.m. and on NBC at noon. DirecTV's interactive mix channel (216) offers featured groups and holes. The live network telecasts are also available at http://www.usopen.com, http://nbcsports.com and http://espn.com. XM Satellite Radio has coverage on Channel 146.

Jim Carlisle is a staff writer for The Star. E-mail address: jcarlisle@VenturaCountyStar.com.