The second major of the season tees off Thursday as the USGA journeys back to it’s roots at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club for the 118th meeting of the U.S. Open Championship. 
All the golfing world has been revved up about the return to the grand old man of U.S. Open venues, arguably the best track in the U.S. Open rota, after its brief fling with the very non-traditional course at Erin Hills in 2017. If you’re like me, you’ve been a couch potato so far this week lapping up the chat and palaver of the talking heads on Golf Channel.
Everyone has their list of favorites, as talk is cheap, and opinions are a dime a dozen. I’d sell my list for less than a dime. So I figured why not take a look at some official and authoritative sources for added insight into who will claim the title this Sunday. I’ve consulted the Official World Golf Ranking and the oddsmakers at Sportsbook and here’s the raw data:
OWGR Sportsbook Odds
- Dustin Johnson. 12/1
- Justin Thomas. 18/1
- Justin Rose. 20/1
- Jordan Spieth. 9/1
- Jon Rahm. 20/1
- Rory McIlroy. 10/1
- Rickie Fowler. 16/1
- Jason Day. 20/1
- Brooks Koepka. 40/1
- Hideki Matsuyama. 28/1
Sports bettors are a strange crew often backing a player, team, horse, dog or whatever with their heart and not their head. And that’s what’s going on in this line-up, as the betting public has made Jordan Spieth the chalk at 9/1. Jordan is barely inside the top 200 in putting stats on tour this year 
and all these punters expect him to master the slick and sloping greens at Shinnecock! Not going to happen. The bookies are ecstatic, they’re probably partying already.
Spieth will miss the cut.
World #1 DJ get’s some love at 12/1 but not enough in my book. Fresh off a win in Memphis last week, DJ is poised to make some more history as he becomes the first player to ever win the U.S. Open after winning the previous week. A string of 118 years is about to be broken.
Last year’s champion get’s no respect from the betting public as big hitting Brooks Koepka, now ranked #9 in the world, is at 40/1. That’s a good value pick. Obviously, it’s difficult to win back to back U.S. Opens, since no one has done it since 1989 when Curtis Strange took the title at The Country Club. A 29 year streak doesn’t seem like much when compared with that 118 year legacy that DJ is laboring with but I’m not backing Brooks either.
The #80 ranked golfer is attracting a lot of betting interest from the gang eager to throw their money away. Tiger Woods is listed at a 16/1 chance to win. I think Tiger will have a good showing, maybe even a top 10. He’s my dark horse pick- and it’s a bet from the heart, not the head.
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