The PGA travels to Toronto this week for the RBC Canadian Open. I look forward to next week, however, for golf’s second major tournament of the year, the US Open in California.
The Los Angeles Country Club will be hosting for the first time, which will make the variables a bit unpredictable. Looking at the course by flyover, what you will see is a major undulation with holes uphill, downhill, sloping left to right, sloping right to left and every direction in between. Although the course layout has wider fairways, the slopes narrow the landing spots. I am looking for a precision golfer.
Here is a look at the odds of winning the US Open 2023 Championship via BetMGM.
Scottie Scheffler +750
Jon Rahm +900
Brooks Koepka+1100
Rory McIlroy +1100
Patrick Cantlay+1600
(Complete list)
The absolute odds are unlikely to change much by then, but I jumped on a player early.
First bet: Matthew Fitzpatrick +3300
The English pro has had a rough start to the year with four cuts in his first seven tournaments. He has since cleaned that up with just one cut in his last seven and finished with four Top 20 finishes, including a win at RBC Heritage in April.
Recovering from a bulging disc, Fitzpatrick found his form. Not only is he one of the best players off the tee, but Fitz has a short game to go along with his ability to hit the ball. He’s won shots with his irons in five consecutive tournaments and around the green in three of his last four. Although he was battling injury, he excelled with the putter, earning strokes in 10 of 14 tournaments this year. Without forgetting that bentgrass greens are one of his best surfaces. What’s promising is that Fitzpatrick has won shots in every category in two of his last four recorded tournaments – his RBC victory and a T9 in the Memorial tournament.
Yes, he won this tournament last year. Yes, it is almost impossible to go back. However, Top 20 odds for the US Open have yet to be released, but he will make my card for both Top 20 and Top 20. Why shoot him again? He showed the desire to improve and the ability to execute. Fitzpatrick knows his short game is his strength and therefore needs to improve 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 on that number in the top 110 before pushing further into the top 50 this season. He followed a speed training regimen. Despite an injury, Fitzpatrick has improved his distance this year, which could come in handy at the Los Angeles Golf Club in avoiding some of the fairway bunkers and the like. Fitzpatrick has distance, iron game, short game and now health.