The second golf Major of the year starts up on June 14th as the US Open tees off in New York. The event is being hosted for the fifth time on the links at Shinnecock Hill. Heading back to the tournament for a title defence is Brooks Koepka after his 4-stroke victory last year at Erin Hills. Koepka is a 25/1 odds option* (betting odds has taken on June 13th, 2018 at 00:24 a.m.) with bet365 to go out and successfully launch a title defence. History is against him pulling it off though as the last player to win the US Open in back to back years was Curtis Strange in 1988 and 1999.
Table of Contents
US Open 2018 Winner Odds*
Dustin Johnson 8/1
Rory McIlroy 14/1
Justin Rose 14/1
Justin Thomas 16/1
Jason Day 18/1
Jon Rahm 20/1
Rickie Fowler 20/1
Jordan Spieth 20/1
Tiger Woods 22/1
Brooks Koepka 25/1
Hideki Matsuyama 30/1
Phil Mickelson 30/1
Henrik Stenson 33/1
Branden Grace 35/1
Bryson Dechambeau 40/1
Patrick Reed 40/1
Tommy Fleetwood 45/1
Paul Casey 50/1
Marc Leishman 50/1
Sergio Garcia 50/1
Alex Noren 50/1
Patrick Cantlay 55/1
Francesco Molinari 55/1
Bar 60/1
* (betting odds taken on June 13th, 2018 at 00:24 a.m.)
The Course
The Shinnecock course has undergone drastic changes since last hosting the US open back in 2004. Back then when Retief Goosen got the better of Phil Mickelson for the title, the fast speed of the greens rendered the tournament almost unplayable. The greens as a whole are larger than they were when it last hosted, and the fairways have been widened significantly. So what this will combine to do is be more of a friendly course for those big hitters in the field and there is the cushion of good run-off areas as well on approaches to the greens.
The Main Contenders
We may as well start with a look at Dustin Johnson who is the 8/1 odds outright favourite at bet365* (betting odds taken on June 13th, 2018 at 00:24 a.m.). The course fits his game perfectly and he is a player in form after his recent win at the St Jude Classic. That was his second win of the year and already he is halfway to matching his tally of titles from last season. He has had a great season and took his win at St Jude without even looking at his very best. Working against him though is a bit of history because no player who has won the US open before had won a tournament in the previous week as Johnson just did.
Rory McIlroy is always his up there at the head of the betting market and is looking for his second US Open title to add to his 2011 success. Since making a breakthrough at the tournament he really hasn’t done a tremendous deal at the US open since then, landing just one top 20 finish in his subsequent US Open appearances. In at that 14/1 odds price at bet365* (betting odds taken on June 13th, 2018 at 00:24 a.m.) then punters will probably see some value in opposing him even though he is capable of destroying a field on a given day.
Justin Rose though for the same price but a far more steady and solid option to make a run at the title here. Rose took a recent win at the Fort Worth Invitational and followed that up with T6 at the Memorial tournament. So is in great shape has had a great season behind him and will probably feel quite at home on the course and the Englishman looks great value among the front-running pack in our U.S. Open 2018 predictions.
Jason Day has won twice in 2018 and he has knocked on the door for the U.S. Open title so many times during his career. He did miss the cut last year prior to that he had a four tournament streak of top-10 finishes and overall in his career has taken two second-place finishes at the U.S. Open. Is more than capable of grinding this out especially if he gets his putter working and has every chance of at adding another title to his cabinet this season.
How can the slightly maverick John Rahm not have any appeal in our U.S. Open 2018 predictions? He does have appeal and a lot of it too. He is not going to be afraid to go out and attack course and he has the distance to play right into the hands of the course layout, and therefore avoiding a lot of the troubles that the shorter hitters will come up against. Had a good outing at the Fort Worth Invitational recently and showed his big-game mentality with his fourth-place finish at this year’s Masters as well. At the big 20/1 odds price* (betting odds taken on June 13th, 2018 at 00:24 a.m.) it’s fantastic each way option value.
Chasing Pack Predictions
At the same price as Rahm, you will find Rickie Fowler who is being hotly tipped once again to finally be able to flush that label of being the best player to not win a major right away. This is another case of a player fitting the course and life is very good to the newly engaged Fowler at the moment. Will this be the one wearing braces major duck? He has a good streak of finishes in the Majors, landing at T5 at the 2017 U.S. Open and at the 2017 PGA championship. After his near miss with a second place finish at this year’s Masters, taking into consideration his natural affinity with the links of Shinnecock, Fowler ticks a lot of boxes.
Justin Thomas is also massively appealing in our US Open 2018 predictions. He is leading the FedExCup and he is also heading up the all-around ranking as well on the PGA Tour. There is nothing to be to be sneezed at and he banked a top-10 finish in the 2017 U.S. Open twelve months ago. You also don’t get to be leading the FedExCup without some form and Thomas has two titles to his name this season and goes to the U.S. Open on the back of an eighth-place finish at the Memorial tournament.
Outsider Predictions
Golf betting can be a tricky beast to tame and so it is always worth looking at the longer priced options especially with each way in mind. One player who has consistently shown up well on links is South Africa’s Branden Grace who is a big 35/1 odds* (betting odds taken on June 13th, 2018 at 00:24 a.m.) option to go get the U.S. Open title this year. The exposed links set up in New York is going to fit him well and he has two top-five finishes in the last three US open events. He has been nudging closer to a major title, and this track may just help get him closer still.
At an even bigger price of 50/1* (betting odds taken on June 13th, 2018 at 00:24 a.m.) is Mark Leishman who has produced three top-10 finishes in the last four editions of the open. While his U.S. Open record isn’t anything of note whatsoever, he has a very good links record and back in 2015 he finished runner-up at St Andrew’s. A big asset of his game is as accurate while driving which is going to put him into contention this weekend. Like Grace, Leishman is looking for his first major title but both should have plenty of pep in their step.
Predictions
There is another deep field absolutely stacked with genuine contenders for this year’s US open. There is a lot to sift through, and of course, you can never discount their unpredictability. For our U.S. Open 2018 predictions, we are looking solely to those who are going to be a good fit for the links of Shinnecock and can deliver distance. Our major option is going to be Spain’s John Rahm just because of how well he is likely to fit into this challenge and having the edge of fearlessness about him to go and attack that length.
He is a good fit and healthy price and for our a big underdog each way option we are going to roll with Leishman. He has the length and the accuracy off the tee to set himself up well for success here in just his all-around game is looking to be pretty much on point right now and he has all the tools that he needs to haul himself into contention. We cannot pass up the big 50/1 odds price on him at each way* (betting odds taken on June 13th, 2018 at 00:24 a.m.)
