The PGA heads to Toronto this week for the RBC Canadian Open. I’m looking ahead to next week, however, to golf’s second major of the year, the US Open in California.
The Los Angeles Country Club will play host for the first time, making variables a bit unpredictable. Looking at the course via flyover, what you’ll see is some major undulation with holes going uphill, downhill, sloping left to right, sloping right to left and every which way in between. Although the course layout has wider fairways, the slopes will narrow the landing spots. I’m looking for a precision golfer.
Here’s a look at the odds to win the 2023 US Open via BetMGM.
Scottie Scheffler +750
Jon Rahm +900
Brooks Koepka +1100
Rory McIlroy +1100
Patrick Cantlay +1600
(Full art)
The outright odds are unlikely to change much between now and then, but I jumped on one player early.
Early bet: Matthew Fitzpatrick +3300
The English pro had a rough start to the year with four cuts in his first seven tournaments. He’s since cleaned that up with just one cut in his last seven and finishing with four Top 20s, including a win at the RBC Heritage in April.
Recovering from a bulging disc, Fitzpatrick is rounding back into form. Not only is he one of the top players off the tee, but Fitz has a short game to accompany his ball-striking ability. He’s gained strokes with his irons in five straight tournaments and around the green in three of his last four. Even while struggling through injury, he excelled with the putter, gaining strokes in 10 of 14 tournaments this year. Not to mention that Bentgrass greens are one of his best surfaces. What’s promising is Fitzpatrick gained strokes in every category in two of his last four recorded tournaments — his RBC win and a T9 in the Memorial Tournament.
Yes, he won this tournament last year. Yes, it’s almost impossible to go back to back. However, Top 20 odds for the US Open have yet to be released but he’ll be making my card for both outright and Top 20. Why fire on him again? He’s shown the desire to improve and the ability to execute. Fitzpatrick knows his short game is his strength and therefore needed to improve on his distance. That’s exactly what he did in 2022 before winning the US Open.
Early last year, he was ranked outside the top 120 for distance. He improved that number to the top 110s before pushing further to the top 50 this season. He followed a speed training regimen. Despite injury, Fitzpatrick has improved this year on his distance, which could come in handy for Los Angeles Golf Club to avoid some of the fairway bunkers and such. Fitzpatrick has the distance, the iron play, the short game and now the health.