If not Tiger, then who?

It has been 10 years since the U.S. Open Championship last touched shore at storied Pebble Beach, and it would be understatement to say a lot has changed since Tiger Woods won here, incredibly, by 15 shots.

The rest of the golfing world left Pebble in rubble a decade ago, wondering if they had maybe entered the wrong profession.

Ernie Els and Miguel Angel Jimenez tied for second at three-over par -- it felt like a tie for 52nd.

“The only thing that can stop Tiger from winning is Tiger,” one golfer said.

It was Jesper Parnevik.

He would one day employ a babysitter named Elin, who would be introduced to Woods. Where the story went from there has been well chronicled.

What Parnevik said at the 100th U.S. Open seems to still hold true at the 110th. The only thing that can stop Tiger is Tiger.

By all rights, he should be the runaway favorite to win this clambake of clambakes, but extenuating circumstances have altered the golfing universe.

Now people are talking about a 21-year-old, Rory McIlroy, from Northern Ireland.

“U.S. Opens are all about patience,” McIlroy said.

What 21-year-old has that?

What McIlroy has: an impressive win at Quail Hollow earlier this year. And while he has never played the real Pebble Beach before, he has played the video game.

“It’s a lot easier on the PlayStation,” he joked.

McIlroy, like a lot of young people, vividly remembers watching the U.S. Open in 2000. “When Tiger won,” he said.

You might opt this week for a creaky 40-year-old-since-Wednesday -- Phil Mickelson, a three-time winner here on the regular PGA tour.

Mickelson has won the Masters three times and has a PGA title, but this is the major that has tortured him -- the British Open never really suiting his highfalutin ball flight.

Mickelson, though, has finished second five times at the U.S. Open. He needed par on the final hole to win at Winged Foot and a bogey to force a playoff, but made a double to produce his famous refrain: “I am such an idiot!”

Mickelson isn’t buying into the poor-me syndrome because, despite being four decades old, he’s crushing the ball better than ever.

If you’re looking to pick a really old guy, try 60-year-old Tom Watson, still refusing to act his golf age.

Don’t laugh. Watson could have/should have won British Open last summer, and he made the cut at this year’s Masters.

Watson, of course, famously outdueled Jack Nicklaus at Pebble Beach to win the 1982 U.S. Open.

“I still feel as if I can play here,” he said Wednesday.

Watson knows the bends and hollows of Pebble, and definitely how to chip out of the rough on No. 17.

Golf is indeed a game for the ages, as Watson will be paired in the opening rounds with McIlroy and 18-year-old Ryo Ishikawa of Japan.

“I’ve got them by 21 years,” Watson said. “The combined age.”

A European player hasn’t won the U.S. Open since Tony Jacklin took honors 40 years ago, yet there are strong leanings toward England’s Lee Westwood.

Westwood has been knocking on a first major’s door for a decade now; he was a valiant contender at this year’s Masters and is fresh off a victory last week at Memphis.

He also has a good attitude about the U.S. Open struggles of Europeans.

“I think it’s coincidence,” he said.

A lot has changed in 10 years -- even Pebble Beach.

U.S. Golf Assn. officials, never happy when the winner shoots 12 under par, have tightened and tweaked a course that plays relatively short, by U.S. Open standards, at 7,040 yards.

The fairway at the par-four eighth has been moved closer to the cliffs to bring more danger into play, with the tees being extended at No. 9 and No. 10.

Mickelson likes those changes but is not so crazy about moving the fairway to the end of the cliffs on the 523-yard, par-five sixth. He has simply dialed down and used a four-iron and two-iron to reach the green in two.

Some holes you don’t mess with. The 109-yard seventh is still a jewel, perched downhill at ocean’s edge. It’s also still a pitching wedge or a three-iron, depending on the wind.

The par-five 18th finishing hole, dubbed “the Finisher,” might be the most famous closing hole in the world. Woods joked at once knocking his tee shot at No. 18 into the ocean.

“I hit it halfway to Japan,” he recalled.

Ten years after 2000, Woods is still center stage -- but for different reasons.

He’s still ranked No. 1 in the world too, but it’s a different world. He’s only played in four tournaments this year.

Ten years ago, Pebble Beach was about mastery -- the year Woods rocked the rocks.

“Tiger probably played the best tournament in the history of golf here,” Watson said.

But it’s no longer about mastery with Woods.

It’s mystery.

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chris.dufresne@latimes.com

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Good company

Winners of the four previous U.S. Opens played at Pebble Beach Golf Links.

*--* Year Winner Score 1972 Jack Nicklaus 290 (+2) 1982 Tom Watson 282 (-6) 1992 Tom Kite 285 (-3) 2000 Tiger Woods 272 (-12) *--*