US Open time. Who’s your pick(s)?
Putting aside the obvious Scottie, I like:
- Colin Morikawa (striking it great and been knocking on the door all season)
- Cam Smith (best short game touch in the business)
- Victor Hovland (appears to have rediscovered his game after an early-season slump)
no idea who wins but it should be >>> the birdie-fest we had last year. In the 3 US opens held at Pinehurst a total of 4 players have finished under par. and 3 of those were -1
My pool and side bets
I have $50 on figjam losing to Kim
$100 on liv player not winning at 1.25
$100 final score will be lower than -11.5
This course rewards elite mid-iron ball striking and shots around the green. Not so much putting as the usable part of the greens are tiny.
That seems like an obvious recipe for Scheffler but the US Open is a variance fest unlike the other 3 majors for the most part. The field is huge and its easy to go on tilt with a true US Open setup like this where you are almost certain to get some bad breaks. Scheffler has his two majors and most of his other tournament wins in birdie fests. This wont be that.
I’m not saying Scheffler can’t win he obviously should be a huge favorite and wins this a lot but having him sub 3:1 here is insane to me.
In 2014 the leaderboard was littered with short knocker types. I could easily see some crazy left field surprise winner like Henley, Fitzpatrick or the like happening.
For DFS the obvious GPP pivots to me is to go Rory over Scheffler and Schauffle and Aberg/Koepka over Morikawa for their price ranges. Rory especially will be single digit owned because Scheffler is going to be 50% owned or so and is so expensive you cant afford both. Even if you play Scheffler and he wins you will still need the rest of your lineup to beat like half the field. Hard pass for me. Might mean I’m dead pretty early tomorrow but this is probably the least predictable tournament at one of the least predictable courses that exists.
Guys with good US Open history who played well here in 2014 that are worth a look:
Adam Scott
Hideki Matsuyama
Brooks Koepka
Passing on Fowler and Day even though they fit the bill above as their recent majors form is just too attrocious for me.
Scottie is as dominant as peak Tiger. If he putts remotely well he wins.
Obligatory Tiger ldo
Th dude is sick but he has a long way to go to be peak tiger. In 2000 the dude won 10 tournaments and 3 majors.
Peak Tiger also lost to LOL Michael Campbell at Pinehurst. Also agree with Clovis that Scheffler, while as dominant as we have seen since, is no peak Tiger.
It never stops being astounding that this is the footwork of the game’s most dominant ball striker.
https://twitter.com/golfdigest/status/1800907859171192924?s=46&t=SVCqsICYH3gAZg7x0_hPmg
First two groups play their first hole at a collective +8.
And here…we….go.
This guy knows stuff and surely this won’t age poorly :)
This course slaps.
It really is a thinking man’s course when set up this way. And a relatively easy walk. If there is a US Open where Tiger could still contend this is gonna be the week.
Tiger’s golf brain has always been one of his more underrated aspects
I had Brian Harman as my dark horse pick this week but Tiger fits the profile even better
Course playing 4-over right now, although that’s always volatile when only a couple of groups have played some holes.
Phil playing almost literal bogey golf so far. Five of the first six.
Went to the 2005 US Open here and it’s stunning how much different it looks. Really great changes that have matured nicely.
Theegala says hold my beer.
Figjam going for high score.