With the pandemic nearly in the rearview, the US Open heads back to its previously programmed time slot, Father's Day weekend. Torrey Pines will host its first US Open since Tiger Woods won here in 2008. Fifty-one year old, current PGA Champion Phil Mickelson (+7000) will look to complete his career grand slam after a record six runner-up Open finishes with a victory here in his hometown. If Phil wants to make it back to back major wins, it will not be easy, as he will have to work his way through a field of the World's best golfers to do so.
Defending US Open champion Bryson Dechambeau (+1500) comes into Torrey Pines with high hopes as he won this event in a landslide last year, beating Matthew Wolff by six shots and finishing as the only golfer under par. Bryson looks to be the first golfer to go back to back at the US Open since his best friend and PIP feud teammate Brooks Koepka did so in 2017-18. Speaking of Brooksy, Koepka (+1900) comes in having his most consistent season as a pro, with a win in Phoenix at the Waste Management Open and runner ups at the PGA Championship and Workday, though he is dealing with a knee injury which you can attribute his missed cut and the Masters to more so than his missed cut at this past weeks Palmetto Championship, which in my mind he used as a glorified practice outing (likely due to sponsor requirements), and allowed him to rest, which is key for his knee injury.
Aside from the PGA Champ and feuding bash bros we will see the return of Jon Rahm, who put on a master class at The Memorial two weeks ago, shooting a 64 on Saturday to go along with a 6 stroke lead before being informed, in front of the World, that he had tested positive for Covid 19. Instead of being allowed to play by himself during the final round (as he was asymptomatic and apparently they don't sell pool noodles in Ohio?), he was forced to withdrawal and give up the likely championship as well as $1.8 million dollar payday, rest assured Rahm is PISSED and wants to come out firing. For this reason, Rahm is the pre-tournament favorite at +1050. Below Rahm is the aforementioned Dechambeau who shares the co-favorite odds with 2020 golfer of the year Dustin Johnson, who appeared to finally be putting it all together Sunday at Congaree, pulling within one shot of the lead, before blowing up with a triple bogey on the 16th and ultimately finishing 10th. Can DJ get it together in time to make a run for the US Open championship? He certainly can, and the fact that we will likely see a winning score that isn't very low will only increase his chances.
Following DJ we see local golfer Xander Schauffele a +1500 who has seen finishes of 2nd, 3rd, and two 5th places at the US Open and though he is a local here, his Torrey Pines history is lackluster with four missed cuts, a 25th and a 2nd place finish. Rest assured Xander will be one of the most bet golfers this week as he is a sports betting media darling in Majors due to his consistency, but can he ever finally win one after multiple final round chokes? Unlikely for me, and I will most likely not be supporting Xander this week (nor fading). Following X on the odds sheet, Jordan Spieth (+1900) heads to Torrey Pines as one of the hottest golfers on tour, playing the best golf of his career, with a remarkable six top 4 finishes since February and a win in Texas at the Valero Texas Open, Jordan is in a great spot to notch another major victory though he did miss the cut here in January at the Farmers Insurance Open, it will likely have no bearing on this event as the course setup will be completely different.
One of the dark horses I like for this week, especially in an anticipated low scoring affair, is Louis Oosthuizen at +5000, Louis is coming off a runner-up at the PGA Championship and he has finished in the top 25 at his last six US Opens with three of those finishing inside the top 7 as well as three top 8 finishes in his last 4 events.
The US Open begins on Thursday and runs through Sunday, you can pick the US Open package up on site at BeatinTheBookie.com for $99.99 as we look to continue our season long PGA success that has seen us win four first round leader bets in our last 7 events at 70-1, 33-1, 28-1 and 22-1.
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