By Vik Chokshi
FOX Sports Gambling Lead
The third major of the season is finally here, with the U.S. Open taking place at Pinehurst Resort in Pinehurst, North Carolina.
The tournament will be played on Course No. 2, a par-70 track that is 7,588 yards long with Bermudagrass greens.
Wyndham Clark, the defending champion, opened at +7000 to win it all.
As for betting on the tournament, we've got you covered with everything you need, from the odds to best bets.
Let's dive into the action.
Favorites
Scottie Scheffler is the clear-cut favorite entering the tournament, just as he is in all the tournaments he plays in. Scheffler currently sits at +300 to win it all.
Xander Schauffele, who won the PGA Championship in May, and Rory McIlroy, last year's runner-up, are tied for the second-best odds at +1100.
Scheffler odds
Scheffler is on a tear in 2024. He picked up his fifth tournament win since March on Sunday, winning the Memorial. While Scheffler won his second green jacket at the Masters in April, he's never won at any of the other three majors.
Despite that fact, Scheffler's +300 odds to win the tournament are the best a golfer's had to win a major since 2009, when Tiger Woods was a +180 favorite to win the PGA Championship. Woods is the only golfer in the last 40 years to have shorter odds to win a major tournament.
Scheffler has been a money-making machine for his backers this year. Per GolfBet, if you placed $100 on him to win every tournament this season, you'd be up $1600.
The new dad has consistently finished in the top 10 this season. He's currently at -120 to finish the event in the top five, while his odds to have a top-10 finish are -250 at DraftKings Sportsbook.
What about Tiger Woods?
Tiger Woods is participating in the U.S. Open for the first time since 2020. But he's a long-shot bet to win this weekend, holding +30000 odds entering the event. Historically, he has done well here, finishing in the top three the last two times he played the U.S. Open at Pinehurst.
You can't talk about Tiger without bringing up Phil Mickelson, who's had his fair share of struggles in the U.S. Open. The lefty has +35000 odds to win the event.
Now that we teed off with the basics, let's approach the top favorites and my early pick to win the tournament.
Jon Rahm pulls out
One player whose name is usually around the top of the betting board is Rahm.
On Tuesday, the 2021 U.S. Open winner withdrew from the event. Rahm is pulling out of the tournament because of an "infected sore located between the little toe and the next toe on his left foot," ESPN reported Tuesday.
Rahm had the ninth-best odds (+2800) to win the event prior to dropping out.
U.S. Open Odds & Field*
Scottie Scheffler: +300 (bet $10 to win $40 total)
Xander Schauffele: +1100 (bet $10 to win $120 total)
Rory McIlroy: +1200 (bet $10 to win $130 total)
Collin Morikawa: +1400 (bet $10 to win $150 total)
Bryson DeChambeau: +2000 (bet $10 to win $210 total)
Viktor Hovland: +2000 (bet $10 to win $210 total)
Brooks Koepka: +2000 (bet $10 to win $210 total)
Ludvig Aberg: +2200 (bet $10 to win $230 total)
Tommy Fleetwood: +3500 (bet $10 to win $360 total)
Matt Fitzpatrick: +4000 (bet $10 to win $410 total)
Justin Thomas: +4000 (bet $10 to win $410 total)
Hideki Matsuyama: +4000 (bet $10 to win $410 total)
Cameron Smith: +4000 (bet $10 to win $410 total)
Patrick Cantlay: +5000 (bet $10 to win $510 total)
Max Homa: +5000 (bet $10 to win $510 total)
Tyrrell Hatton: +5500 (bet $10 to win $560 total)
Sahith Theegala: +5500 (bet $10 to win $560 total)
Tony Finau: +6000 (bet $10 to win $610 total)
Tom Kim: +6000 (bet $10 to win $610 total)
Shane Lowry: +6000 (bet $10 to win $610 total)
Sam Burns: +6500 (bet $10 to win $660 total)
Min Woo Lee: +6500 (bet $10 to win $660 total)
Jordan Spieth: +6500 (bet $10 to win $660 total)
Wyndham Clark: +7000 (bet $10 to win $710 total)
Sepp Straka: +7000 (bet $10 to win $710 total)
Sungjae Im: +7500 (bet $10 to win $760 total)
Keegan Bradley: +7500 (bet $10 to win $760 total)
Corey Conners: +7500 (bet $10 to win $760 total)
Russell Henley: +8000 (bet $10 to win $810 total)
Dustin Johnson: +8000 (bet $10 to win $810 total)
Cameron Young: +8000 (bet $10 to win $810 total)
Will Zalatoris: +8000 (bet $10 to win $810 total)
Robert MacIntyre: +8000 (bet $10 to win $810 total)
Byeong Hun An: +8000 (bet $10 to win $810 total)
Jason Day: +9000 (bet $10 to win $910 total)
Dean Burmester: +10000 (bet $10 to win $1,010 total)
Alex Noren: +10000 (bet $10 to win $1,010 total)
*Odds as of 6/10/24
"THE GIMME"
Rory McIlroy Top 10 (+125)
Riding with my guy Chris "The Bear" Fallica here, and taking Rory to finish in the top 10.
As "The Bear" wrote, "Five straight top-10 finishes in the U.S. Open to go along with three more top-10s and a win earlier in his career. He may not win, but he knows how to grind at an event which can be as much mental as it is physical."
LONG-SHOT OUTRIGHT BETS TO MAKE
If you follow me on Twitter or read this column, you know I love betting on golf long shots (+1500 to +2000 or longer). There's just something thrilling about holding a lottery ticket deep into Sunday. It also presents you with multiple hedging opportunities if you want to eliminate some of your risks.
A lot of my bets this week are based on course history and form, so here are a couple of guys worth sprinkling pizza money on:
Bryson DeChambeau +2000
Tommy Fleetwood +3500
Cameron Smith +4000
More picks to come!
Receive your weekly recap of all the happenings around the world of sports.