The season’s third major championship takes place this week, though the 122nd U.S. Open has taken a backseat to the events surrounding the sport. That will change on Thursday when the 156-player field tees off at the historic Country Club at Brookline in Massachusetts.
A number of players in the field were banned from the PGA Tour recently for their involvement in the Saudi-backed LIV Golf Series. However, those who qualified are allowed to play since the U.S. Open is run by the USGA. That means Phil Mickelson gets another crack at the career grand slam, though he’s well down the odds list.
Coming off his win in Canada, Rory McIlroy was positioned as the betting favorite on the opening PGA odds board. The stacked field also has Justin Thomas, Scottie Scheffler and defending champ Jon Rahm all listed with shorter than 15/1 odds.
Rahm won his first major at this tournament last year at Torrey Pines when he was on a massive roll. He’s cooled off considerably since and was a non-factor in the first two majors. Visit BookMaker.eu for a complete, updated list of betting odds when you’re ready to place a wager.
2022 U.S. Open Dates
The 2022 U.S. Open runs from June 16-19 at Brookline Country Club in Brookline, MA. Parts of the tournament will be televised on both Golf Channel and NBC.
2022 U.S. Open Odds To Win
Rory McIlroy +1050
Justin Thomas +1205
Scottie Scheffler +1325
Jon Rahm +1415
Cameron Smith +2051
Xander Schauffele +2051
Patrick Cantlay +2351
Jordan Spieth +2551
Sam Burns +2551
Matthew Fitzpatrick +2752
Will Zalatoris +2855
Collin Morikawa +3255
Tony Finau +3258
Shane Lowry +3357
Dustin Johnson +3557
Viktor Hovland +3787
Joaquin Niemann +3857
Sung-Jae Im +4050
Hideki Matsuyama +4450
Brooks Koepka +4550
Cameron Young +4850
Max Homa +5050
Daniel Berger +5350
Odds Analysis
I get the sense there’s an us vs. them vibe going on among players. The golfers that defected for the LIV Series were all banned from the PGA Tour and remarks made by some current Tour players weren’t favorable regarding their decision. McIlroy in particular took shots at Greg Norman and Mickelson and appears to have an edge to his game backing the current Tour makeup. He showed last week he’s ready to defend the Tour with his win in Canada and he’s also looking for a first major championship since 2014, though he has placed among the top-10 in three of his last four majors.
Scheffler was so good for a stretch that it almost feels like he’s slumping since he’s winless in four starts. Following his win at the Masters betting markets had Scheffler as the favorite. As we know that changes week to week and although he’s not tops on the list Scheffler is right there. Immediately ahead of him is Justin Thomas, who prevailed at the PGA Championship for his second major win. After his MC at the PGA, Scheffler rebounded missing out on his fifth win of the season when he lost a playoff at the Schwab.
The next tier on the odds board has some big names. In search of his first major championship, Xander Schauffele comes in at +2051. Jordan Spieth, the 2015 U.S. Open winner, has been consistently good since emerging from a slump a few years ago. He has 13 top-10 finishes, including a pair of wins, over the last two seasons. In a tournament of this stature we typically don’t see a player further down the odds board win. It could happen and on rare occasions has, but the best bet is to stay at the top of the list.
The Field
We already talked about some of the favorites in the 156-player field. McIlroy opened as the favorite with last week’s win at the RBC Canadian Open his third top-5 in his last five starts. His lowest finish in that stretch was T18 at the Memorial, so it’s safe to say he’s in a good place right now. It’s been a few years since his last win in a major so expect him to be geared up for a run.
Scheffler became a first-time major winner at the Masters and Rahm got his maiden major at last year’s U.S. Open. There are a number of solid players still in search of that elusive major title with Xander Schauffele and Tony Finau among them. Schauffele has been close a number of times including in this tournament where he had a stretch from 2017-2021 where he finished among the top-7 every time. Brookline requires every stick in the bag and the X-man can wield them all expertly. Finau has turned things around with his putter leading to three top-5s in his last five starts. He closed 62-64 in Canada finishing 2-swings behind McIlroy for his second runner-up in that five-start stretch.
U.S. Open Prediction
With such a loaded field it’s hard to venture too far down the odds board. Besides, there is value on some big name players. McIlroy and Scheffler are playing great golf on the lead in, but I think Schauffele is due to break the seal on a major. Brookline isn’t long at 7,264 yards, but it does require a varied skill set and Schauffele has the goods.
