Scottie Scheffler Enters US Open Week Back on Form

Since March began, Scottie Scheffler has only once finished worse than tied for second, and that was when he spent his pre-round preparation at the PGA Championship in a Louisville jail. And even then, he still finished T8.

This past week, he won the Memorial, which made him the first five-time winner in a single season since Justin Thomas in 2017, and the first to hit the five-win mark before the U.S. Open since Tom Watson in 1980. Scheffler also has his first win since becoming a father.

For the win at Muirfield, Scheffler pocketed $4 million, which pushed his season total to more than $24 million, breaking the season record that he set last year. All five of his wins have come at PGA signature events – the Arnold Palmer Invitational, The Players Championship, the Masters, the RBC Heritage, and now the Memorial.

Scheffler was +360 to win the Memorial, and naturally, many golf bettors were hesitant to put money down on a player with such short odds. But as he enters the U.S. Open at +300 odds, it’s hard to consider them unplayable. Considering the year he is putting together and his status as the most dominant golfer since prime Tiger Woods, the odds on Scheffler are reasonable.

U.S. Open Betting Favorites

Scottie Scheffler (+300)

Bet against him at your peril.

Rory McIlroy (+1000)

Rory McIlroy was the winner at the Wells Fargo Championship in early May, and since then, he’s finished T12 at the PGA, T4 at the Canadian Open, and T15 at the Memorial.

He’s playing very good golf, but he hasn’t won a major in 10 years, and he hasn’t won a U.S. Open since 2011 at Congressional in Bethesda, Maryland. When the U.S. Open was last held at Pinehurst in 2014, he finished T23. And that year, he played the best golf of his career, winning the Open Championship and the PGA Championship.

This season in the majors, McIlroy finished T22 at the Masters and T12 at the PGA.

Xander Schauffele (+1200)

Xander Schauffele took his name off the list of “Best Golfers to Never Win a Major” with his win at the PGA Championship. And what an impressive win it was, as Schauffele set the record for lowest 72-hole score in any major championship at 21-under par.

The PGA is his only win this season, but it is not his only good result. Schauffele finished T4 at the Genesis, T2 at The Players Championship, eighth at the Masters, and he was T8 on Sunday at the Memorial. Last month, there was nothing fluky about Schauffele’s first major win. He’s playing great golf.

Collin Morikawa +1600

Collin Morikawa was in the final pairing at the Masters in April, but ended up T3. He was in the final pairing at the PGA Championship, but finished T4. This week at the Memorial, he was hot on the heels of Scheffler. But Morikawa again came up just short.

He’s a two-time major champion having his best season in years, but Morikawa’s 2024 has been a season of near-misses in the final round. He has finished in the top 10 five times in 2024, and he is the only golfer to finish in the top five in both major championships.

Viktor Hovland +1800

The most surprising of the top five golfers on the odds board is Viktor Hovland. He had an excellent 2023, highlighted by top 10 finishes at the Masters and PGA Championship, and a win at the BMW Championship.

He did just finish third at the PGA Championship, but he has just two other top 20 finishes this year, and he missed the cut at the Masters, shooting a second-round 81. For his career, Hovland has top 10 finishes at three of the four majors. At the U.S. Open, his best finish is T12, and that was five years ago.

Bryson DeChambeau +1800

When Bryson DeChambeau won the U.S. Open in 2020, it was supposed to be the beginning of a dominant run on Tour. Instead, the two years that followed had DeChambeau as one of the biggest disappointments at the majors, with only one of seven starts coming with a top 25 finish. Then he left the Tour for LIV Golf, and he became a forgotten man.

Forgotten no more, DeChambeau was T6 at the Masters and was the runner-up at the PGA Championship. He has reminded us with his gallery interactions as to why he was so popular, and why so many fans were sad to see him leave for LIV.

Other Notables in the Field

Brooks Koepka is a two-time winner of the U.S. Open, a five-time winner of major championships, and he is just behind the leaders at +2200. 

It was just a year ago that Jon Rahm was the No. 1 golfer in the world, with wins at the Masters and Ryder Cup, and a T2 at The Open Championship. In December, he made the move to LIV, and this year, his best finish at a major was T45 at Augusta.

Wyndham Clark was the U.S. Open winner last year, and back in February, he won at Pebble Beach. But he’s missed both major cuts this year, missed the cut at the Memorial last week, and he is paying +6000 to repeat as the U.S. Open champion.

While Scheffler and the other top golfers were playing their final tuneup events on Sunday, Tiger Woods was already at Pinehurst. This will be his fourth tournament of the season, and his first since missing the cut at the PGA Championship. A win here for Woods would pay +25000.