There has been a lot of talk off the course over the last ten days but now the world’s top golfers can concentrate on the action on the fairways and greens as they do battle for the third Major of the year at the US Open.
As ever, a deep, competitive field will assemble at the Los Angeles Country Club and England’s Matt Fitzpatrick will hope to claim a repeat success following his victory at Brookline in Massachusetts 12 months ago.
The competition will be fierce. Brooks Koepka stormed to last month’s US PGA title and as he already has two US Opens to his name, his confidence levels are bound to be high.
World number one Scottie Scheffler looks set to go off favourite as he searches for his second Major but two former champions from Europe will also have their eyes on the prize.
Jon Rahm claimed the Green jacket at Augusta in April but will want to bounce back from a disappointing show at Oak Hill at the PGA, while 2011 winner Rory McIlroy will be anxious to get the job down having forced his way into contention in his last two tournaments, only to fade on Sundays.
- Scottie Scheffler to win the US Open
- Viktor Hovland to win the US Open
- Justin Rose to win the US Open
Scheffler Ticks Many Boxes
The Los Angeles Country Club will be an unfamiliar track to many of the 156 players teeing it up this week but one player who has the benefit of course experience is Scottie Scheffler.
He, alongside another player prominent in this week’s betting Collin Morikawa, was a member of the victorious US Walker Cup team who beat Great Britain & Ireland at the venue in 2017.
But that should not be seen as the central reason to get with the world number one in California this week.
Scheffler stormed to the top of the rankings with four early victories in 2022, which culminated in him winning the Masters that April.
Those who anticipated that the Texan would then fade from view were left to eat their words as he has come on from those successes to be officially classed as the world’s best player.
He will have been delighted to have captured two of the PGA Tour most prestigious tournaments - the Phoenix Open and the Players Championship - since the turn of the year and consistency has been key to his successful season.
Scheffler was second to Brooks Koepka at the US PGA Championship last month and he has finished in the top 12 in each of his last 16 tournaments.
Having also finished as Matt Fitzpatrick’s closest challenger at Brookline last year, he should be highly confident of going one better this week and capturing a second Major.
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER TO WIN THE US OPEN
Major Joy Beckoning For Hovland
While Jon Rahm and Rory McIlroy are usually seen as Europe’s main challengers for golf’s biggest prizes, it may pay to look elsewhere this time.
Rahm, who won the US Open in 2021, claimed his second Major at the Masters in April, but after a blistering start to the year, he has gone off the boil and a tie for 50th at the US PGA will be regarded as a poor effort.
McIlroy, meanwhile, has been well placed to win at the Memorial and the Canadian Open in the last couple of weeks and has lacked the killer instinct to get the job done.
Consequently, it could be Norway’s Viktor Hovland who leads the overseas charge in California.
Hovland put himself in prime position to claim his first Major at Augusta but a closing 74 saw him slip to seventh.
However, he has not let this disappointment affect him and he recovered well to finish runner-up to Koepka, alongside Scheffler, at Oak Hill last month.
Hovland was able to build on that by beating Denny McCarthy in a playoff in his last tournament at the Memorial and he could not be heading into battle in better nick.
VIKTOR HOVLAND TO WIN THE US OPEN
Hovland ready for Major glory
Rose Getting Back To His Best
It is now 25 years since Justin Rose burst on to the golfing scene by finishing fourth at The Open as an amateur, but recent evidence suggests that the Englishman is far from done and we could see him make a bold bid this week.
It is ten years since the Ryder Cup star claimed his only Major success to date when he won this tournament at Merion and while he has gone through periods of soul-searching and poor form since, things are starting to turn around.
The Pebble Beach Pro-Am may not be one of the most celebrated tournaments on the PGA TOur circuit, but his victory on that West Coast track in February certainly seems to have given him a lift.
And that increased confidence has been evident at his two Major efforts this year as 16th spot at Augusta and then ninth at the US PGA suggest he is knocking on the door to being back among the game’s elite.
Rose has been playing solidly as he followed his 12th at the Charles Schwab Challenge with eighth at last week’s Canadian Open.
He possesses just the sort of patient temperament that can be a big asset in the world’s biggest tournament and, of course, he has been here before and got the job done, so Rose can definitely be considered a live contender.
JUSTIN ROSE TO WIN THE US OPEN
