b0615lebronThe Miami Heat's total implosion during the NBA Finals this week was the worst example of vomiting up a lead since Rory McIlroy did it on the back nine at the Masters. So it stands to reason that McIlroy would feel some measure of sympathy for the Heat and, in particular, LeBron James.

"I think he's been unfairly scrutinized," McIlroy said Tuesday. "Everyone is going to have bad days, if it's on a golf course or on a basketball court. And with sports these days everything is overanalyzed, stats here, stats there, how has your team combined points in the last quarter of the Finals or whatever. It's just one of those things."

LeBron and McIlroy share a sponsor, Audemars Piguet watches, and McIlroy is a self-professed Heat fan. And they have more than that in common: They've had some major problems this year with the fourth -- quarter or day, whichever. McIlroy acknowledged that the constant focus on failure will "get to you," but added that the Heat will have many more chances at the

b0615openWelcome to Teeing Off, where Devil Ball editor Jay Busbee and head writer Shane Bacon take a day's topic and smack it all over the course. And today, since it's a major, we welcome in the third man, Jonathan Wall. Suggest a future topic by writing jay.busbee@yahoo.com, or hit us on Twitter at @jaybusbee, @shanebacon and @jonathanrwall. Today we kick around that little tourney that's starting this week up D.C. way.

Bacon: It's the toughest golf tournament in the world to win. It makes the strongest minds in sports want to fling their clubs in a lake and take up fly-fishing. It brings in tall rough, slick greens, and fluffy bunkers. So who has the best chance to win the first U.S. Open without Tiger Woods since I was in third grade?

Wall: While I'm sure network execs will miss Woods, this field is loaded with talent that should still make the tournament must-see TV. I'd even go so far as to say this is one of the most wide open U.S. Open's I've seen in some time. I hate taking chalk in

b0614philIt's time for our own golf ranking system for the top players on the planet. Why? That's easy. The one used now isn't good enough. For one thing, it evaluates golfers over a two-year period. Two years! A lot can happen in two years. (Ask Tiger Woods.) For another, the current system gives too much credit to players who prevail against less competitive fields halfway across the globe.

Therefore, every week between May 31 and September 27, two days after The Tour Championship, Yahoo! Sports will unveil the new rankings of players Nos. 1 to 10, using lists submitted by many of the game's most knowledgeable observers. We will use a simple statistical formula for the lists we receive — the top player getting 10 points, the second, nine points, and so forth. We will then add up all the points to produce our list of the top 10.

We have asked voters to tell us who they believe are the top 10 players right now. Over time, we expect to add more voters to the list. We

-For the best in U.S. Open coverage, follow Yahoo! Sports' Devil Ball on Facebook and on Twitter at @jaybusbee.-

Stop what you're doing, right now, and watch this. Do it.

That, friends, is dorktacular perfection. Ben Crane, Bubba Watson, Rickie Fowler and Hunter Mahan are the Golf Boys, and their song is called "Oh Oh Oh." (Sometimes simplicity is best.)

So much to love about this video, from the return of Crane's Snake Shaker to Fowler's bucketheaded hipsterism to Mahan's puttin' pimpery to Watson's sheer Bubbaness. This absolutely smokes "Super Bowl Shuffle" and every other athlete song ever written. And hey, it's available on iTunes too! The proceeds go to charity, friends, so relax and enjoy.

And if we don't hear "oooh de lally lally" on every single drive by these cats this weekend at Congressional, I'm going to be extremely disappointed.

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Congo10

Congressional Country Club poses an incredibly difficult test for every golfer in the field this week, but aside from the thick rough and fast-as-ice greens, players will have to deal with one other factor. As USA Today's Steve DiMeglio noted, that factor is teeing off on a par-3 to start the round.

With 156 players in the field, the USGA decided to send players off 1 and 10 on Thursday and Friday, meaning every player in the field will have to, at one point or another, contend with the 220-yard 10th to start the day.

Normally, this wouldn't be a major problem, but when you're talking about the first hole at a major compared to an average tour event, the stakes are sure to make the narrow green seem even smaller.

"Starting a round on 10, I can't see too many tougher holes to start on, especially off that back tee," Ernie Els said in his Tuesday press conference. "You might have to come off the range, hit your putts and then go to your first hole of the day, which could be a 4-iron

115460803This week before the U.S. Open tees off, we'll be sizing up the chances of many of golf's top players. We continue with the top golfer on the planet.

Luke Donald

Current world rankings: 1

So far this year: Nobody in the game is playing better than Donald at the moment. After missing the cut in his first event of the 2011 season, he followed it up with a dominating win at the Accenture Match Play and hasn't finished outside of the top-10 in any event this season. Throw in a recent win at the BMW PGA Championship and you're looking at a resume that's Tiger Woods-esque.

Record at the U.S. Open: Donald's finishes have been a mixed bag. He's posted two top-20 finishes, but he's also missed two cuts and had to withdraw from the '08 tournament with a nagging wrist injury.

Why he could win: Luke Donald has been winning and dominating for almost the entire season. That says a lot about where his game is at the moment. Congressional will demand accuracy and a guy that has a relatively high ball

b0614shooterIt's no secret that the draw for the U.S. Open pairings is anything but random; the USGA pairs up players based on recent majors (the 2009 champions' pairing of Angel Cabrera, Stewart Cink and Lucas Glover), international status (the heavyweight allotment of Lee Westwood, Martin Kaymer and Luke Donald) or just plain TV marketability (Rory McIlroy, Dustin Johnson and Phil Mickelson).

But in the past, there's been one more pairing out there that's a bit of an open (ha!) secret. In his book "The Majors," John Feinstein termed this pairing the ... well, we can't actually use the word he used, but we'll say "Jerk Pairing." (Unrelated aside: ever been using a needle and you prick your finger? Hurts, doesn't it? Yeah.)

As noted in the book, Feinstein pointed out that Fay had continued this fascinating little tradition for insiders to track:

"(Fay) had not, however, given up on one of Hannigan's more hallowed traditions: the [jerk] pairing. Hannigan swears he did not give the pairing its

104566263 dudes

We've ranked individuals, but after Colin Montgomerie's comments that the Europeans are set to dominate the majors, we figured we might as well list their five best chances at this U.S. Open. Here they are ...

5.) Rory McIlroy -- We all know what happened at the Masters this year when this 22-year-old had the lead at a major, but let us not forget that this is a kid that finished 10th at the U.S. Open at the age of 20, and was tied for third at both the Open Championship and PGA Championship a year ago. Couple that with his Masters play for 54 holes, and we can all agree that McIlroy has at least some of this major pedigree figured out.

4.) Ian Poulter -- It's strange to look at how bad Poulter has played in majors over the years, considering his determination to be one of the best in the world, but Poulter is crazy when it comes to preparing for the big events, and he's going to eventually have a good week at one of these just because he's so talented.

3.) Lee Westwood -- Someone