The second major of this disrupted year starts Thursday, with the 120th US Open taking place at Winged Foot golf club at Mamaroneck, New York.
This is a tough, long course, with penal rough and slick greens – the winning score last time the Open was held here was +5, when Geoff Ogilvy won the title.
With this in mind we’re looking for a player that is straight off the tee, hits his long irons truly and scrambles well. He also has to have a strong temperament, as his patience will surely be tested.
Step forward Tommy Fleetwood. Despite his flamboyant appearance, the Englishman is a grinder on the course – fairways, greens, fairways, greens. He’s finished in the top five in two of the last three iterations of this tournament, and he showed he was on form with a third place finish last weekend in Portugal. Climb aboard.
Built along similar lines, with think Matt Fitzpatrick will also play well this week. He’s very straight and scrambles well, but we fear that he may be too short off the tee to threaten a victory. He finished 12th both last year and in 2018, and we think the 5/1 on offer that he finishes in the top 10 is a great price.
Our final selection comes out of left field. We have been very impressed with the quality of the young talent qualifying for the main tour of late. Brandon Wu won the season-ending Korn Ferry Tour Championship (US golf’s second division) recently to confirm his ability.
He will make his second US Open start this week, having finished 35th last year as an amateur. Additionally, he hails from Scarsdale, not far away from this week’s venue, and is familiar with the course.
He’s a big price, understandably, but nothing ventured, nothing gained. Wu also tees off very early on Thursday morning, when the course is likely to be the most receptive, so we’re also going to select him to be a first round leader.
Recommendations:
Fleetwood 1 pt each way at 35/1, 1/5 the odds for the first nine places, William Hill
Fitzpatrick to finish in top 10, 1 pt, at 5/1, Unibet
Wu 0.5 pts each way at 200/1, 1/5 the odds for the first 11 places, SkyBet
Wu 0.5 pts each way to be first round leader, at 125/1, 1/5 the odds for the first six places, William Hill
