It’s eyes down on Pebble Beach this week as the third golf Major of the year kicks off. The US Open is now the third major after the reshuffling of the scheduling of the big four tournaments. It used to be the second in a calendar year. This comes only three weeks following the PG Championship.
With some of the big guns in sparkling form at the moment, there should be a pretty hot contest. It is Dustin Jonson and Rory McIlroy who are the joint 8/1 favourites to win outright* (betting odds taken from bet365 on June 11th, 2019 at 00:57 am).
2019 US Open Golf Winner Odds*
Dustin Johnson 8/1
Rory McIlroy 8/1
Brooks Koepka 9/1
Tiger Woods 12/1
Patrick Cantlay 18/1
Jordan Speith 20/1
Rickie Fowler 25/1
Justin Rose 25/1
Jon Rahm 28/1
Justin Thomas 28/1
Xander Schauffele 28/1
Hideki Matsuyama 33/1
Jason Day 33/1
Tommy Fleetwood 33/1
Adam Scott 33/1
Francesco Molinari 35/1
Bryson Dechambeau 45/1
Matt Kuchar 45/1
Bar 50/1
* (betting odds taken from bet365 on June 11th, 2019 at 00:57 am)
Pebble Beach
Followers of golf will be pretty familiar with the Pebble Beach course. It hosts the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am early every year, although that, of course, is a totally different beast to how this US Open is going to be playing. At the Pro-Am it hosts two of the four rounds and it is playing a lot longer for the major.
It is the sixth time that Pebble Beach has hosted the US Open. The previous winners were Jack Nicklaus in 1972, Tom Watson in 1982, Tom Kite in 1992, Tiger Woods in 2000 and Graeme McDowell in 2010.
Can Dustin Johnson win 2nd US Open Title?
Dustin Johnson claimed the 2016 US Open title at Oakmont and he has, as expected, been knocking on the door in the big tournaments this year. His one title for the season came at the WGC Mexico in February, but with a T5 at The Players, a T2 at The Masters and then a second place finish at the PGA Championship, of course, he is going to have some pretty big appeal in this one. Johnson has had ten top-ten finishes from 13 previous starts at this course. Has he crumbled under a little pressure this season in big moments? Yes? Does he still warrant a good look regardless? Yes. He’s 8/1 to get the job done* (betting odds taken from bet365 on June 11th, 2019 at 00:57 am)
Will Rory McIlroy find US Open form?
Rory McIlroy is bringing top form with him into the tournament. That’s why he is level on odds with DJ at 8/1* (betting odds taken from bet365 on June 11th, 2019 at 00:57 am). He just took a win at the RBC Canadian Open. But if you look back at history there has never been a winner of the US Open who had a tournament win in the previous week. So will that success actually work against the Northern Ireland player?
It has been wonderful stuff from him this season though. McIlroy has been inside the top ten nine of his eleven outings in the States this year. The two exceptions were T21 at The Masters and a missed cut at the Memorial. McIlroy has missed the cut in each of the last three US Opens and hasn’t enjoyed outings at Pebble Beach much before.
Can Brooks Koepka defend US Open title again?
Koepka is the reigning US Open Champion and after going out and defending his USPGA Championship title, he will have plenty of backing. He did it last year, of course, successfully defending his US Open title, so he will be looking to make it three in a row. This will be just his second time out at Pebble Beach only, but he seems pretty comfortable on the links. He was 33/1 to defend last year and delivered at Bethpage, albeit with a wobble at the end. He just keeps on churning it out and he is the Major-beast at the moment having won four of the last eight Major tournaments.
Can Tiger Woods rediscover US Open 2000 form?
Tiger Woods produced one of the famous tournament performances of all time at Pebble Beach. It was when he set his record-breaking 15-stroke win at the US Open. He rediscovered his magic touch earlier this year with his success at Augusta in the Masters and his fans will be anticipating another big drive at the title for him.
- 7 of the last 10 US Open winners were in their 20’s (all 10 under 32)
- All but two of the last 10 winners have played at least 3 US Opens
- 9 of the last 10 winners had recorded a T20 previously in a US Open
But he has failed to crack the top ten in any of his three appearances at the California course since that epic campaign. He took part in the Memorial Tournament recently where he did get a top ten finish and that was after a missed cut at the PGA Championship. You are still not quite sure what’s coming from Tiger but he’s there at 5/4 to secure a Top Ten finish.
Each Way 2019 US Open contenders
Jordan Spieth seems to be creeping back into the limelight more and more and will take some decent form with him to Pebble Beach. He has had three straight top ten finishes in current form heading to the tournament and because of that isn’t a bad price at 20/1 each way.
Graeme McDowell is a big old price at 90/1 odds but he produced a tremendously cool head in landing a top-ten finish at the Canadian Open last week* (betting odds taken from bet365 on June 11th, 2019 at 00:57 am). That was a precious result for him as it earned him a spot at the Open Championship this year. He’s also a dab hand at the links too, having been the Alfred Dunhill Links winner.
Picking someone with a good driving distance, basically, a big hitter could help. The roughs are rough at Pebble Beach and anyone who strays off further from the greens are going to have a hard time recovering and making up ground. 11 of the last 15 US Open winners have ranked inside the top ten for driving distance in the tournament. There is also going to be a fair amount of scrambling going on.
More well-priced Challengers
Among the other key European challengers besides McIlroy, you are going to be looking at Justin Rose, Tommy Fleetwood and Jon Rahm. The great asset that they each have is their strength in pulling things together. They are not the kind of players who are going to be stressing out if things aren’t going quite right.
Fleetwood has taken back to back top five finishes in US Opens now. The Englishman is at 35/1* (betting odds taken from bet365 on June 11th, 2019 at 00:57 am) to win outright at Pebble Beach.
As for Spain’s Rahm at 30/1 odds, he is looking for really his first big effort at the Major* (betting odds taken from bet365 on June 11th, 2019 at 00:57 am)
2013 champion Rose battled well last year to a top ten finish at Shinnecock Hills. He is at 28/1 to double up on his haul of US Open titles* (betting odds taken from bet365 on June 11th, 2019 at 00:57 am).
Patrick Cantlay is another of the strong American challengers. He has hit top form as well with a T3 at the PGA Championship followed up with a win at the Memorial Tournament. That’s five top ten finishes (plus two missed cuts) in his last seven tournaments. Cantlay is trading pretty well at 18/1, enough to warrant a good each way look* (betting odds taken from bet365 on June 11th, 2019 at 00:57 am)
2019 US Open Predictions
Another treat for the fans and there are some big stories around, including a potential breakthrough for birthday boy Phil Mickelson, who at 49 would be the oldest ever winner of a US Open. There’s Tiger Woods hoping to relive some past glories at the Major.
Then there is Koepka, who is just something special when it comes to the Majors. He looks as if he can dominate for some time, but just one of the last ten winners of the US Open has been a defending champion. There’s McIlroy with his poor US Open history.
We have to lean on a American coming through for the title. There is just so many key contenders from the likes of Keopleka, Speith, Xander Schaufelle and Cantlay. We are going with a longer option in Speith at Each Way 22/1 odds* (betting odds taken from bet365 on June 11th, 2019 at 00:57 am) despite him not driving well, which basically indicates that he is scrambling and doing the rest of the game well.
As for a winner out of the key contenders. It is Dustin Johnson who we have to go with. He has a little something to prove with so many near misses recently at the US PGA Championship and the Masters, where he was second in both. He has been knocking on the door of more Major success to add to his one US Open success.
With McIlroy lacking that US Open and Pebble Beach form, Tiger lokoing unpredictable and the unlikeliness of the same man winning this three years on the bounce (Kopeka), it is DJ who gets the nod at 8/1 odds* (betting odds taken from bet365 on June 11th, 2019 at 00:57 am)
