Photo credit: Kathryn Riley/USGA
If you enjoy watching the best golfers in the world being tortured, then the U.S. Open is the tournament for you.
The annual major played Father’s Day weekend is usually a bloodletting as opposed to so many birdie fests we have gotten used to in professional golf.
The tournament gets going Thursday at the Los Angeles Country Club, a course that features two par 3’s almost 300 yards in length.
The perception that the winning score is around even-par is just that, a perception, but not a reality.
The United States Golf Association started tracking scores against par, with even-par only winning seven times. The last time was 2010 at Pebble Beach, won by Graeme McDowell.
A winning score of 4-under is the most common and has happened 10 times, with a winning score of 1-under happening eight times.
What is the norm is not very many players finishing under par. Last year Matthew Fitzpatrick won the Open at 6-under. There were two players at 5-under, one at 3-under, two at 2-under, and three at 1-under. In all, only nine players finished under par for the weekend, with the cutline being 3-over-par.
Simply put, this not going out and shooting four rounds in the 60. I get it – sometimes it is fun to watch the pros shoot obscenely low, but during the Open I have always found it fun to watch the course management skills of the best players.
The course will be 7,421 yards which is not even in the top 10 longest courses in Open history, but there are some individual holes making the top 10 lists.
The two long par 3’s – No. 11 at 290 yards and No. 7 at 284 yards – are the third and fourth longest par 3’s in history. No. 16 is a 542-yard par 4, tied for the third longest par 4 in Open history.
It also starts a brutal three-hole closing run as it is followed by No. 17 (520 yards, par 4) and No. 18 (492 yards, par 4).
Okay, so how does the Open shake out this year? There are predictable favorites, and there are some longshots that may be worth a couple of dollars.
According to DraftKings Nation Scottie Sheffler is the favorite (+700 – a bet of $100 gets you $700 if Sheffler wins) and given the way he has played the last two years he warrants favorite status.
I am going else with my bet, taking two-time U.S. Open winner Brooks Koepka (+1,000) as my top choice. Koepka was second at the Masters (the first major this year) and then was the winner of the second major – the PGA. He has won five majors since 2017 and is fully healthy for this one.
Koepka thrives under Open pressure, and I think he’s the one to beat. Fitzpatrick is a +3,300 choice to defend his title.
Here are some of the other top choices: John Rahm (+900), Rory McIlroy (+1,400), Patrick Cantlay (+1,400), Xander Schauffele (+1,800), Viktor Hovland (+1,800), Jordan Spieth (+2,500), Cam Smith (+2,500), Max Homa (2,800), Colin Morikawa (+3,300).
A couple of longer shots worthy of a look could be Justin Thomas (+4,500) and Patrick Reed (+7,700). Phil Mickelson enters the event still looking for a career grand slam at +15,000.
The Masters is my favorite tournament of the year, but second would be the U.S. Open as it offers that tough test of golf that brings out not only the physical prowess of the golfers, but the mental side of their games as well.
I look forward to the next four days and all it holds. There will be plenty of times I’ll be watching the TV with an evil grin, while there will be other times, I’ll be shaking my head, wondering how someone was able to hit a shot!
I hope you enjoy it as well – now let’s go Brooksey!