Rory McIlroy is expecting a far stiffer test when he defends the US Open in six weeks' time - but not because he knocked four shots off the championship record last year.
The weather is likely to dictate that the Olympic Club in San Francisco will be fast and fiery for the second major of the season.
McIlroy was 16 under par and eight clear of the rest at Congressional near Washington, and said: "The thing that made the scoring low was the fact they got so much rain before.
"Last year was a bit of an exception. I'm expecting something around level par isn't going to be too far away."
That was the score with which Lee Janzen won the title the last time Olympic staged the event in 1998 - and Jack Fleck and Ben Hogan tied on seven over par back in 1955.
Pebble Beach was firm when Graeme McDowell won two years ago, with McIlroy missing the cut on that occasion.
"At that point I was not playing so well," the 22-year-old added. "I was not in control of my ball.
"But I'll make sure that I'll do everything I can to go into that tournament ready to play and as fresh as I can be. You just really have to mentally prepare yourself for the type of golf that you're going to have to play that week. But that all depends on the conditions and you see how those conditions are during that week.
"I expect it to play pretty similar to Pebble and you just got to adapt your game to that. That's what the best players can do, they can adapt to all different conditions and that's what I'll have to do to hopefully try and win more Major Championships."
McIlroy has yet to see Olympic Club but plans on getting to know the course a few days early.
"I'll go up there the week before and familiarize myself with the place," he said "From what I've heard it's a really good setup and I know they have made a few changes to it this year for the U.S. Open, but I'm excited to get up there and see what it's like.
The recent Masters was billed as McIlroy versus Tiger Woods in some quarters, but it did not turn out like that.
"It was a two-horse race for 40th," he said, remembering that they finished level.
"Hopefully we both play a bit better at Olympic. It would be great to get into contention and if he's there as well."
The last player to successfully defend the title was Curtis Strange in 1989, and McIlroy will be looking to follow suit."It's the toughest test that we face all year and I'm not sure why there hasn't been a repeat champion, but obviously I'm going to try my hardest to make that happen this year," he said.
And while winning the US Open last year was inevitably a life-changing experience, it was an experience he looks comfortable with.
"You always dream and hope one day that you'll be able to win a Major and to make that dream become a reality is something that was very special and it puts you among an elite group of players that can call themselves Major champions. So people always view you a little differently and maybe you gain a little bit of respect from guys that have won Majors that you've joined the club.
"If anything it just gives me more confidence in myself knowing that I can win on the biggest stage in golf and knowing that I've done it before that will give me confidence to think that I'll be able to do it again."
