Tacoma, United States: World No. 1 Rory McIlroy and some legends of the game stand in the way of Jordan Spieth as he chases the second leg of golf’s Grand Slam at the US Open which begins Thursday.

Reigning Masters champion Spieth and McIlroy head up a strong field of 156 that includes the top 60 players in the world squaring off on a course unlike any other that has ever hosted a US Open.

Sprinkle in a few legends of the game like six-time runner up Phil Mickelson and former world number one Tiger Woods on the quirky links-style Chambers Bay course, and you have a US Open that promises to deliver plenty of surprises.

“You are going to see some different things this week than you have probably seen in any other major championship we play,” said Woods on Tuesday after his practice round.

“To win any major you have to be patient. This one in particular because there are so many different variables. Unlike any golf links we play, we don’t have elevation changes like this.

Spieth aims to become the first to sweep the Masters and US Open since Woods achieved it in 2002. The Texan has an ace up his sleeve in caddie Michael Greller, who worked at Chambers Bay before carrying Spieth’s bag on the PGA Tour.

“I feel like if there’s any advantage, it would be towards us with his knowledge of the place,” Spieth said of Greller.

Phil Mickelson, six times an US Open runner-up, will take another crack at adding the final piece to complete a career Grand Slam and Woods is trying to salvage some respect after shooting a career-high 85 in his most recent outing at The Memorial.

Don’t count out the Europeans this week, especially McIlroy. There is also defending champion Martin Kaymer, Henrik Stenson and 2013 champion Justin Rose to watch.

Europeans now have captured four of the past five US Opens, a switch from the 40-year drought between Tony Jacklin’s win in 1970 and Graeme McDowell triumph in 2010.

Spieth, 21, has played 16 PGA Tour events this season and along with his two victories he has three runner-ups and nine top ten finishes.

“It is going to be a lot of speed control,” he said of Chambers Bay. “It is going to be different short game shots, almost like you are playing an Open Championship.”

That might be music to the ears of McIlroy as he is the reigning British Open champion and is coming off a victory at the Wells Fargo event in his last US outing in May.

McIlroy has played seven US PGA Tour events this season, winning two of his last three, but he missed the cut at his last event in the European PGA Championship at Wentworth.

Sandwiched between his wins at the Wells Fargo and the WGC-Cadillac Match Play is a tie for eighth at The Players Championship. He has had five top 10 finishes and missed one cut at The Honda Classic.

Like most of the field, he looking forward to seeing what Chambers Bay, located 50km south-west of Seattle, will deliver.

“It’s hugely important, a chance to win a second US Open and the fifth major,” McIlroy said.

Defending champions Martin Kaymer, meanwhile, is happy for players such as Spieth and McIlroy to command the spotlight.

Germany’s Kaymer confirmed his status as one of the game’s very best by coasting to his second major victory, by eight shots in last year’s US Open at Pinehurst, though he has since failed to replicate that commanding form.

“A lot of times I’m under the radar, I feel like, which is fine,” Kaymer told reporters on Tuesday while preparing for Thursday’s opening round. “The other guys, they should get a lot of credit for what they have done.

“Obviously Jordan, what he has done this year, must have felt for the others how I played Pinehurst. It was impressive to watch [at the Masters] that he didn’t miss many putts. He played very aggressive down the stretch the last few holes.”

American Spieth, at the age of 21, clinched his first major title with a stunning wire-to-wire victory by four shots at the Masters, matching Tiger Woods’ tournament record low of 18-under 270 for 72 holes.

“Then what Rickie [Fowler] did at the Players, how brave he played,” said Kaymer, referring to American Fowler’s stunning playoff win at the Players Championship in May when he finished regulation play eagle-birdie-birdie.

“And then obviously Rory [who won the last two major titles of 2014]. Those guys, they’re all four or five years younger than me so they should get the credit for what they have achieved.

“My win was already 12 months ago. What they’ve done more recently is more important than my win last year.” Kaymer, a three-times winner on the PGA Tour who claimed his first major crown at the 2010 PGA Championship, readily admits that his form over the past 12 months has fallen short of his lofty standards.

“I’m not 100 per cent satisfied with the way I performed in certain tournaments,” said the 30-year-old who missed the cut at the Masters in April.