Who's Winning the US Open? OUR TOP 50.

Rank    

 Player

50

Billy Horschel (USA)

Billy is quietly having a bounce-back year, posting a T-15 at Memorial last week, T-24 at the Charles Schwab and T-8 at the PGA Championship.

49

Thomas Detry (Belgium)

Finished fourth at the PGA Championship and second at The Children’s Houston Open.

48

Harry Higgs (USA)

What a story Harry Higgs has been the last month. He won back-to-back tournaments on the Korn Ferry Tour in a playoff and then qualified for the U.S. Open via a 7-for-3 playoff last Monday as part of a 38-hole day.

47

Justin Rose (England)

The veteran put together a solid week at the PGA championship with a sixth place finish but this course will be a much tougher challenge.

46

Phil Mickelson (USA)

This could be his last chances to complete the career grand slam with a U.S. Open victory. It won’t be easy, but his distance off the tee will give him a fighting chance to compete if he is accurate enough. Has played well this year outside of the PGA Championship but this will be a tough course for him to succeed at.

45

Nick Taylor (Canada)

The four-time tour winner enters this week playing some good golf. He’s a shorter hitter off the tee, which doesn’t fare well at this golf course unless you have a spectacular week with your irons. Finished Top-10 at the Zurich.

44

Taylor Pendrith (Canada)

Playing phenomenal golf coming in with three Top-11 finishes in his past five starts. Won the Byron Nelson this spring and should enter with a large amount of confidence.

43

Austin Eckroat (USA)

The former Oklahoma State Cowboy and former teammate of Viktor Hovland and Matt Wolfe has made a name for himself of late. Finished 18^th at the PGA and 39^th at The Memorial. 

42

Byeong Hun An (Republic of Korea)

Finished third in a loaded field in Charlotte and finished fourth at the Byron Nelson the week prior. Coming in playing great golf after a Top-20 at the Masters and Top-25 at The Memorial.

41

Keegan Bradley (United States)

After a spectacular 2023 season, Keegan hasn’t had much luck yet this year threating to win-- outside of a second-place finish at the Charles Schwab. Shown some flashes in his past six events with a Top-25 at The Masters and Wells Fargo and PGA Championship.

40

Ryan Fox (New Zealand)

Coming off a seventh-place finish at the Canadian Open, fourth place at the Myrtle Beach Classic and a fourth-place finish at the Zurich. Finished T-14 in the Dubai Invitational in January. He made the cut in all four major championships last year and did the same at the Masters and PGA this year. Great value this week in fantasy golf and worth a Top-10 flyer.

39

Akshay Bhatia (USA)

Picked up his second career win at the Valero Texas Open last month before finishing T-35 in his Masters debut. He has the firepower to hang around.

38

Min Woo Lee (Australia)

Lee finished T-22 at The Masters, 26^th at the PGA and runner up at The Cognizant this spring. Hasn’t finished outside the top 30 of a tournament since March.

37

Si Woo Kim (Korea)

Si Woo has quietly played very solid golf this season and is coming off a 15^th place finish last week. Finished in the top 20 in four of his past six starts.   

36

Russell Henley (United States)

Henley has finished Top-15 nine times sine last August. Finished 23^rd at the PGA last month. Has made 12 of 13 cuts this season and doesn’t miss cuts at majors either.

35

Rickie Fowler (United States)

Will one of the most likeable golfers on tour ever win his first major championship? It likely won’t be this week for Rickie. Has posted one Top-20 in a full-field event since the Tour Championship in August. Won in Detroit last July to earn his sixth career PGA Tour win and end a four-year winless drought.

34

Tiger Woods (United States)

Will he be healthy enough to compete? He’s coming off a made cut at The Masters where he passed his buddy Fred Couples for the most consecutive made cuts in Masters history, but he struggled to get through two rounds at the PGA Championship. He needs one more win to break the tie with Sam Snead for the most professional wins in golf history. The only problem is that recently he hasn’t been able to finish tournaments, completing just two full-field PGA Tour tournaments since February 2023. This course doesn’t suit him well. His best chance to get major number 16 will be at Augusta going forward.

33

Sungjae Im (Korea)

Played great golf the last month finishing eighth at The Memorial, ninth at the Charles Schwab and fourth at Quail Hollow. Won the Woori Financial Group Championship in Korea earlier this season.

32

Tony Finau (United States)

This course should favor long hitters, which means you can’t rule out Finau. He’s had a quiet past 12 months since last winning in April of 2023. 

31

Brian Harman (United States)

One of the great stories of 2023, Brian Harman now tees it up as a major champion and Ryder Cup participant. He missed the cut at the Masters but bounced back with a T-12 at the RBC Heritage and T-30 at the PGA Championship. He seems to always be lurking on the leaderboard when they play difficult courses. 

30

Corey Conners (Canada)

Starting to play some really good golf of late. He’s in solid form coming in, posting four consecutive Top-26 finishes, including a sixth place at the Canadian Open and 13^th at Quail Hollow. Has made 15 consecutive cuts to start the season.

29

Tyrrell Hatton (England)

Hatton no-doubt has the talent to win a major championship and has finished T-21 or better in 13 of his past 15 events and hasn’t missed a cut. Made the switch to LIV Golf this season and posted a T-5 finish in Singapore last week. The Mad-Hatter finished ninth at this year’s Masters and represented Europe in his third Ryder Cup in 2023. His worldwide wins include both the Arnold Palmer Invitational and DP World Tour's flagship event in 2020 as well as consecutive DP World Tour wins in St Andrews in 2016 and 2017.

28

Denny McCarthy (United States)

McCarthy is on the short-list with the likes of Xander Schauffele and Cameron Smith as the best putters on the planet. McCarthy ranks second on tour in Strokes gained putting. Last season he finished runner-up in the Memorial Tournament and added a T-20 in the U.S. Open at The Los Angeles Country Club. Recorded his first Top-10 in major in the 2022 U.S. Open at The Country Club in Massachusetts after closing 68-68 to finish T-7.

27

Patrick Cantlay (United States)

He’s been very solid in his past eight majors, finishing T-22 or better in six of them but hasn’t’ threatened the winner’s circle. Recorded Top-12 finishes at Maui, Pebble Beach and Riviera to start 2024. In 2023, he recorded seven Top-5 finishes on the PGA Tour, finished inside the Top-15 in three of the four majors.

26

Jordan Spieth (United States)

One of the most unpredictable players on tour, both in-round and week-to-week, Spieth has been super inconsistent in a weird 2024 season that has featured a third-place finish at The Sentry and a T-6 at the WM Phoenix Open before being disqualified at Riviera for signing an incorrect scorecard after a strong first three rounds. He missed the cut at the Masters but seems to be finding some form following a Top-30 at Quail Hollow and T-37 at the Charles Schwab.

25

Sepp Straka (Austria)

The former Georgia Bulldog is playing fantastic golf, finishing in the Top-16 in seven of his past nine starts. Finished fifth both of the past two weeks in Toronto and Columbus, eighth at Quail Hollow last month, T-16 at the Masters, T-12 in Maui in January and T-16 in The Players Championship in March. In 2023, Straka followed a T-7 finish in the PGA Championship by finishing runner-up in The Open at Royal Liverpool. He was also a member of the winning European Ryder Cup team in Italy.

24

Dustin Johnson (United States)

The two-time major winner enters the field this week a little bit of an unknown. He’s played decent golf this spring but has just two Top-20 finishes since he won the LIV Golf Las Vegas event in February. He’s coming off a missed cut at The Masters and T-43 at the PGA. He’s had a lot of success at U.S. Opens with an incredible seven Top-10 finishes so you never want to count him out completely in this tournament.

23

Will Zalatoris (United States)

Always has the firepower to win at tough courses like this one and Zalatoris has proven he can play with the game’s best at major championships. He’s had a rough go at things the last two years battling injury, but when he’s been healthy, he has been at the top of the major leaderboards. Arguably the best iron player in the game when he’s healthy, his ability to work the ball both ways and use elite distance control with his long irons, Pinehurst could be a perfect match for his game. Zalatoris has finished T-9 or better in eight of his past 11 major appearances, including this year’s Masters. He has two top 10’s in the past four U.S. Opens. 

22

Jason Day (Australia)

Has played very consistent golf but hasn’t’ threatened to win. Had a fantastic February highlighted by a T-6 at The Pebble Beach Pro-Am and a ninth-place finish at Riviera but his strong play slowed until the RBC Heritage where he bounced back with a T-18. Played really well in Charlotte, finished tied-for-fourth. Hasn’t finished in the top 25 of a U.S. Open since 2019 but has a great chance to put an end to that this week.

21

Wyndham Clark (United States)

Nobody outside of Scottie Scheffler started the season hotter than Wyndham Clark, but he has run into some trouble of late. He missed the cut at the Masters and missed the cut at the PGA Championship. The reigning U.S. Open winner won the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and collected back-to-back runner-up finishes at The Arnold Palmer Invitational and The Players Championship. Both of his second place finishes this spring came to Scottie Scheffler. Clark somewhat took the golf world by storm last summer, picking up his first career win at the Wells Fargo before parlaying his momentum into his first career Major win at the U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club. Struggled last week at The Memorial finishing T-53 and hasn’t had a Top-40 since April.

20

Justin Thomas (United States)

Every time he tees it up, he has the talent to win. Made somewhat of a shocking move announcing a split with renowned caddie Jim “Bones” Mackay” just eight days before The Masters earlier this year. Former caddie for Patrick Cantlay, Matt Minister, has taken over the bag for Thomas of late. Thomas has played excellent golf since last August but hasn’t found the winner’s circle since winning the PGA Championship in 2022. Thomas is coming off a T-8 at the PGA Championship, T-5 finish at the RBC Heritage and a T-21 in Charlotte.

19

Jon Rahm (Spain)

The seventh ranked golfer in the world, Rahm has fallen from grace somewhat since his move to LIV Golf. He’s had terrible starts in both majors this year and WD’d with an injury last week at LIV Golf Houston. If he is able to tee it up this week, he will no doubt come in looking for some redemption after his showing at The Masters and PGA Championship left a lot to be desired. Winner of the 2021 U.S. Open.

18

Cameron Young (United States)

What looked to be a once meteoric rise to stardom has slowed a bit after a blazing hot start to his career. The power-hitting Young is on his third caddie in three years and struggled to find consistency last season after a spectacular rookie season in 2022. One of the most talented players in the world, he’s still looking for that breakthrough win. He’s been very solid since the calendar turned to 2024 with five Top-10 finishes, including a T-9 at Augusta. He’s finished ninth or better in five of the past nine majors but has struggled to find any success at the U.S. Open so far.

17

Cameron Smith (Australia)

Cam Smith represents one LIV Golf’s best chances to win a major this season outside of Koepka and DeChambaeu. One of the best putters in the world, Smith enters after a 2^nd place finish at LIV Golf Singapore in May. Smith has finished Top-10 in five of the past 10 majors counting his Open Championship victory in 2022 but struggled at the PGA last month. The greens at Pinehurst No. 2 will be some of the most difficult of the 2024 calendar year to make birdie putts on, so he should have an advantage on the greens as one of the top five putters in the world.

16

Shane Lowry (Ireland)

Coming off a T-6 at the PGA Championship and a win at the Zurich Classic and this difficult course should be a good match for the Irishman. Finished T-20 at last year’s U.S. Open. 

15

Sam Burns (United States)

Has posted Top-15 finishes in three of his last four tournaments. Tallied top-10 finishes at La Quinta, Pebble Beach, Phoenix and Riviera to start 2024. He made his debut as a member of the United States Ryder Cup team last year in Italy. It could be time for a breakthrough for one of the game’s most clutch putters. He has struggled in majors of late, not making a cut in a major since last year’s U.S. Open. We think he will turn it around this week.

14

Tom Kim (Korea)

Has fared better in Majors so far in his career than regular events. Finished in the top 30 in his last four major appearances and has made the cut in 14 of his last 17 tournaments. Finished 30^th at The Masters and 26^th at the PGA Championship but is coming off back-to-back impressive showings at the RBC Canadian and Memorial. Maybe he and his new caddie Paul Tesori are starting to click at the right time.

13

Hideki Matsuyama (Japan)

Hideki has quietly started to play some good golf of late and has finished T-12 or better in five of his past seven starts, including a win at Riviera in February, but hasn’t teed it up but once since the PGA, where he finished tied for eighth at The Memorial. He hasn’t played a ton of golf this spring --but he has been solid when he does-- and he hasn’t missed a cut since August 2023. Has two Top-5 finishes in U.S. Opens.

12

Tommy Fleetwood (England)

Fleetwood is somehow still looking for his first professional win the United States despite 10 professional wins overseas and countless weeks near the top of the leaderboard. Tommy has been very solid in major championships the past three seasons, finishing T-18 or better in seven of the 10 events, including a T-3 alongside Max Homa at The Masters this season. He’s been knocking on the door repeatedly, and someone that flushes the irons the way he does is bound to have a hot week break through eventually. Has finished T-26 or better in six of his last seven starts.

11

Matthew Fitzpatrick (England)

Had five consecutive Top-28’s from March to April before slowing up of late. He had a solid showing this past week at Muirfield Village in Columbus and seems to enjoy playing the difficult courses. Fitz finished fifth last week and posted a Top-25 at The Masters, 11^th at the Zurich, 15^th at the Waste Management and a fifth-place finish at The Players Championship. We like the way this course sets up for his game. Expect him to be a factor this week.

10

Max Homa (United States)

A fan favorite, Homa has the talent to win any time he tees is up, but the six-time PGA Tour winner has struggled to get across the finish line at a major championship so far. He enters this week in good form, has eight Top-25 finishes worldwide in 2024, including T-3 at The Masters, T-8 at Wells Fargo and T-22 at The Memorial last weekend. Homa has fared better in majors in his last few attempts. He’ll look to ride the momentum into a breakthrough win this week.

9

Xander Schauffele (United States)

Schauffele is better than the ninth-best player in the field, but this is a ranking of most likely to win the tournament and no player has won back-to-back majors since Koepka won the PGA Championship and U.S. Open in 2018. Ever since the PGA Tour calendar switched to having major championships every four weeks in 2019, nobody has won consecutive majors. It’s hard to rebound that quickly after the emotional and physical toll that comes with winning a major championship, especially after your first one in Schauffele’s case. However, he responded well at The Memorial this week with a Top-10 finish. The reigning Olympic gold medal winner enters The U.S. Open with Top-25 finishes in 19 of his past 20 events. Schauffele shook off the title as the most accomplished players yet to capture that Major title, and we’ll see if he can break the streak of non-repeat major winners. He has an incredible 13 Top-10 finishes in Major Championships since 2017.

8

Sahith Theegala (United States)

Sahith has six Top-12 finishes worldwide in 2024, including runner-up at the RBC in Hilton Head and Maui in January. Finished T-6 in the Arnold Palmer Invitational and T-9 in The Players Championship in consecutive weeks in March. Theegala finished T-12 at the PGA Championship last month and finished T-12 at The Memorial this past week. Last September, he earned an emotional first career PGA Tour win in front of more than 30 family and friends in Napa, Calif. Playing in one of the final groups on Sunday at the PGA Championship should have given him invaluable experience. Expect him to finish inside the Top-10 this weekend and possibly contend.

7

Bryson DeChambeau (United States)

Enters the week in excellent form having finished with six Top-10s in his last 10 starts, including a runner-up finish at the PGA Championship. The winner of the 2020 U.S. Open at Winged Foot, DeChambeau has only one other Top-15 at a U.S. Open. Bryson has six Top-8 performances in majors over the past five years. With his 2020 U.S. Open win at Winged Foot by six strokes, Bryson joined Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods as winners of the U.S. Open, U.S. Amateur and NCAA Individual Championship. It will be interesting to see if he can bounce back from an emotional Sunday at the PGA Championship where he fell to Xander Schauffele on the 72^nd hole only four weeks ago and contend again.

            6

Brooks Koepka (United States)

Koepka enters this week following a ninth-place finish at LIV Houston. Koepka hasn’t shown up in the majors yet this season, but he seems to thrive at U.S. Opens where it is a battle of attrition and patience. Koepka has a win at LIV Golf Singapore event and a ninth place at LIV Golf Adelaide this season. Koepka held off Viktor Hovland and Scottie Scheffler to win his fifth major at The PGA Championship last May at Oak Hill Country Club. Koepka has five Top-5 finishes at the U.S. Open and two victories. He’s been testing out different putters over the past few months, but if he can figure out the flat stick, he should have a chance to join Bobby Jones, Jack Nicklaus, Willie Anderson, Ben Hogan, Hale Irwin and Tiger Woods as the only players in history with 3+ U.S. Open wins.

5

Ludvig Åberg (Sweden)

Åberg has been a machine in his first two seasons on the PGA Tour. He made his major debut at Augusta in April and finished second to only Scottie Scheffler. He struggled at the PGA Championship, but he entered battling a knee injury and seemed to return to good health following a Top-5 finish at The Memorial this past weekend. For such a young player, he never looks like the spotlight is too bright, no matter how few rounds of PGA Tour golf he’s played. He reminds me of a dominant closer in baseball that always wants the ball in the last inning or a basketball player that wants to take the last shot with the game on the line. He won the European Masters and the RSM Classic during an incredible rookie campaign in 2023. He was so impressive he was selected as a captain’s pick for the 2023 Ryder Cup by Luke Donald. Expect him to contend this week on a difficult course.

            4

Rory McIlroy (N. Ireland)

McIlroy returns to Pinehurst No. 2 --the site of the 2014 U.S. Open where he finished T-23—blistering hot following four straight events in the Top-15, including two victories (Zurich Classic; Wells Fargo Championship). Despite only having one U.S. Open title, Rory has been incredibly close to picking up another, finishing T-9 or better in the past five years straight. He’s been knocking on the door and should have as good of a chance as anybody not named Scottie Scheffler to pick up the win this week. The 35-year-old veteran ranks fifth on tour in strokes gained off-the-tee (0.799), which sets up well for a course that demands finding the short grass to avoid the sand-lined fairways. McIlroy has the second-shortest odds to win (+1000), behind only Scottie Scheffler.

3

Collin Morikawa (United States)

After a blistering start to his major championship career, Morikawa has hit a dry spell finding the winner’s circle over the past 20 months but has seemed to regain his form since he showed up at Augusta this spring. Morikawa has been at the top of leaderboards week in and week out since he finished tied for third at the Masters. Morikawa followed up with T-4 at the PGA Championship, fourth place finish at the Charles Schwab Challenge and second place at The Memorial last week—falling one shot shy of Scottie Scheffler. He also posted a ninth-place finish at Hilton Head, 23^rd place at the Zurich and finished T-16 at Quail Hollow. One of the best iron players in the world, he’s due to get back in the winner’s circle soon. He’s proven the ability to close down the stretch of a major championship.

2

Viktor Hovland (Norway)

Hovland is near the top of the list of the most talented players looking for their first major victory. He had a dominant finish to 2023, winning the BMW Championship and the PGA Tour Championship at East Lake before rattling off Top-5 finishes at the BMW PGA Championship and DP World Tour Championship overseas. However, he parted ways with short-game coach Joe Mayo --who helped Hovland transform from one of the games worst short-game players to one of the game’s best-- prior to the 2024 campaign and struggled mightily around the greens to start the season. However, Hovland reunited with Mayo prior to this PGA Championship last month and immediately regained his 2023 form. Hovland finished third at the PGA at Valhalla and finished Top-15 at The Memorial in a U.S. Open tune-up last weekend. Hovland has shown up in the big events and tends to play his best on tough courses like Pinehurst. Vik has finished Top-20 in six of his past seven major championships and he’s due for his breakthrough win.

1

Scottie Scheffler (United States)

The World’s No. 1 ranked golfer since May 22, 2023, Scheffler enters this week with (+300) odds to pick up his second major of the season and third of his career. He comes to Pinehurst as hot as any player on tour, holding off Collin Morikawa on the final hole to win at Muirfield Village, joining Tiger Woods as the only player in history to win The Players, The Masters and The Memorial in the same season. Scheffler has won five of his past eight starts and hasn’t finished worse than2 T-8 in that span. With another victory this season, Scheffler would become the first player with six wins in a PGA Tour season since Tiger Woods won six times in 2009. The 11-time PGA Tour winner is currently the world’s best ball-striker by a wide margin, leading the PGA tour in Strokes Gained Total, SG: Tee-to-Green and SG: Approach the Green. With a win, Scottie would become the seventh player in history to win The Masters and U.S. Open in the same season, and first since Jordan Spieth in 2015.