The U.S. Open: What have we learned?

   What have we learned halfway through this U.S. Open?
   Here's the good:
  -- Tiger Woods is back. He may not win but he's ready to win another major -- finally. You can see it in the look and the confidence in his swing.
     Now all he has to do is finish it.
    -- Graeme McDowell is a great interview and a pretty good player. When McDowell's playing career is over, which may be a while, he has a future in television.
    Asked what he expects the winning score to be, McDowell said, "Levelish."
    He's probably right.
   -- The qualifying process gives the U.S. Open stories like 17-year old amateur Beau Hossler, 14-year old Andy Zhang and 40-year old Casey Martin. The Masters is great, by far my favorite event, but it doesn't have characters like the U.S. Open does.
   -- Plodders prevail.
     Check them out: McDowell. Jim Furyk. David Toms. Matt Kuchar. Jason Dufner. Hunter Mahan. All in the top 10.
   The bad:
    -- Luke Donald. Even he admits it.
    -- Rory McIlroy. He's going through a phase...I hope.
    -- Bubba Watson. Not built to win U.S. Opens.
    -- Traffic on the Bay Bridge. Okay, it has nothing to do with the Open but they've had a couple of really rough days getting back and forth to Oakland so I thought I'd at least mention it.