It should be another exciting edition of the U.S. Open this weekend from the Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts. This is a USGA event and that organization has (sometimes controversially) tried to make their tournaments a tough trip through 72 holes.
We’ve had Brooks Koepka (2018), Justin Rose (2013), and Webb Simpson (2012) win this tournament at +1 within the past decade – but have also seen Koepka (2017) and Rory McIlroy (2011) also set tournament records at -16. Anything truly can happen in the U.S. Open.
Something else to note is that players in their 20s have won five of the last six majors, and 18 of the last 27 have gone to a first-time major winner. That could lead to some underdogs cashing at maybe even at higher odds than Jon Rahm did in this tournament last year at 12/1.
U.S. Open Betting Underdogs
Patrick Cantlay (25/1)
Could this be the breakout tournament for Cantlay or has the 30-year-old already missed his window? The world #4 is flying under the radar in betting this week mostly due to him finishing 39th at the Masters and missing the cut at the PGA Championship – getting the ‘yips’ in majors it appears.
In between that MC at the PGA Championship though, Cantlay won the Zurich Classic (with Xander Schauffele) and finished third at the Memorial. Seven of the last 10 U.S. Open winners have taken the week off prior to the tournament, as Cantlay did last week.
Matthew Fitzpatrick (28/1)
Fitzpatrick checks many of the boxes of recent majors champions – he’s 27 and has never won a major. Something Fitzpatrick did do though is take home the 2013 US Amateur Championship held at this very course in Brookline, MA.
Fitzpatrick has also fared well in the two majors so far this season, finishing 14th at the Masters and fifth at the PGA Championship. Throw in a runner-up at the Wells Fargo Championship in early May and a T10 last weekend at the RBC Canadian Open and this looks like a golfer ready to break through.
Shane Lowry (31/1)
Depending on how you look at it, Lowry either has the easiest – or the toughest – pairing over the first 36 holes. Lowry has been matched up with Phil Mickelson and Louis Oosthuizen, who are playing their first tournament in the U.S. since defecting to the LIV.
There will be some distractions for sure, but Lowry can also fly under the radar as Mickelson and Oosthuizen draw all the media attention. There’s also the fact that Lowry is playing well, gaining strokes from tee to green (and in putting) in his last eight events.
Sungjae Im (40/1)
The Country Club has eight holes playing at 450+ yards and three at 500+. Im is one of the top 10 players in scoring at 450+ and is also 3rd in ball striking giving him tremendous value at 40/1 in this spot.
Bryson DeChambeau (125/1)
He’s likely not healthy with four straight missed cuts including in his only tournament in the last two months at the Memorial. Even so, at 125/1 you have to throw $1 down on this former U.S. Open champ who also gets to play the villain – a role he loves – after his defection to the LIV was announced.
