This is the U.S. Open everyone wanted to play, as the record 10,187 entries cascaded into the USGA attest. After all, it’s not every day that Los Angeles Country Club’s storied North Course plays host to a USGA event.
It’s not even every decade.
The last time LACC welcomed outsiders for high-level competition was 2017, for that year’s Walker Cup. The time before that? The 1954 U.S. Junior Amateur. And before that? Take the Wayback Machine to 1930, for the U.S. Women’s Amateur. Considering that was the year of Bob Jones’ historic Grand Slam, and considering it was 93 years ago, we’ll forgive you for not knowing that.
For decades, LACC was the best-kept secret in golf, an uber-exclusive enclave so impenetrable that it excluded anyone working in LA’s least-kept secret industry—The Industry. Actors, directors, producers and even studio executives were persona non grata at LACC—as were inquiries from blue-blood organizations like the USGA, which had LACC on its Can-We-Bring-An-Open-There going back to the last century.
In 2015, the LACC members finally said “yes.” And after some heavy renovations in the late teens by respected golf architect Gil Hanse and Geoff Shackelford to restore the bunkers and shot options to those created by the original designer, George Thomas, the North Course goes on display to the world this week. And it does so at a brutish 7,423 yards, with two par-3s playing longer than 280 yards and six par-4s playing north of 480 yards.
So with that uncertainty—and only betting favorite Scottie Scheffler and Collin Morikawa are in the U.S. Open field from that 2017 Walker Cup—do we like and dislike on the wagering front?
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Players We Like
Brooks Koepka (+1100): Yeah, we know. Too easy. Just like Koepka makes the game look these days. His last two major finishes: a second at the Masters and a third Wanamaker Trophy at the PGA Championship. There’s a reason Koepka has bookend U.S. Open trophies, he’s 8-for-9 in cuts made and 5-for-9 in top-10 finishes. He’s long and straight off the tee, scrambles better than a Waffle House fry cook, and is immune to pressure. Bet him now, before the odds dip into single digits.
Cam Smith (+3000): What’s this? Another LIV player? And a LIV player who you haven’t heard from since he took apart St. Andrew’s in last year’s Open Championship? Since Smith re-entered the LIV Witness Protection Program after the Masters, he’s finished third, sixth, second, ninth (in the PGA), and ninth. Smith’s U.S. Open record isn’t great; he hasn’t finished better than 38th since 2015. But he’s one of the best putters on the planet; see his second in the field (+1.90) in Strokes Gained: Putting at the PGA for reference. Plus, LACC and its wide fairways is a second-shot golf course, which plays right into Smith’s stellar iron game, scrambling ability, gilded putter and unflappable demeanor.
Tommy Fleetwood (+4500): Yes, we know, Fleetwood is a member of the Always In The Mix But Never Wins Club. You bet on him and watch him contend his way into a fifth-place finish, so he’s probably a better bet for a top-10 finish. But you’re getting the No. 6 player on Tour in strokes-gained around the green, the No. 6 player in Strokes Gained: Total and a player who is fourth in One Putt Percentage (45.14%)—never a bad thing, especially at a U.S. Open. And you’re getting all of that at +400—right after Nick Taylor stole the RBC Canadian Open from him with a putt from somewhere around Thunder Bay.
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Players We Fade
Justin Thomas (+2800): To paraphrase the late Dean Vernon Wormer from “Animal House”, 120th in greens in regulation and 141st in strokes-gained putting is no way to go into a U.S. Open. Especially on a brute of a course featuring three par-4s greater than 500 yards and two others north of 490. That’s not good when you’re 115th in par-4 scoring average and 161st in approach proximity greater than 200 yards. Oh, and there’s that MC at the Memorial and T65 at the PGA, in case you need some bad form to follow Thomas’ bad function.
Cam Young (+5000): Here’s the Cam you don’t want. Unless you’re into golfers who are dreadful around the greens (175th in Scrambling, 189th in Strokes Gained: Putting, 140th in Strokes Gained: Around the Green). Young’s abominable short-game resume explains why—despite top-10 length off the tee—the U.S. Open is the only major where he doesn’t have a top-10 finish. In fact, he doesn’t have a cut-made in three tries. And in case that doesn’t scare you away, since finishing 7th at the Masters, Young has gone T51, T59, Cut, Cut, T57.
Gary Woodland (+15000): Another bomber with a suspect short game. Normally, Woodland is a decent U.S. Open pick. After all, he has one of these trophies on his mantle, courtesy of his victory at Pebble Beach four years ago. He also finished T10 at The Country Club last year. But those were both on courses where Woodland’s ridiculous length off the tee made up for a lot of shortcomings. Not this week. At LACC, Woodland’s woeful putting: 187th in Strokes Gained: Putting, 181st in Putting Average, 190th in Putts Per Round and 183rd in One Putt Percentage will cancel out his thermonuclear driving. And we haven’t mentioned he’s 170th in scrambling. Pass.
Watch the U.S. Open starting Thursday 1-8 p.m. USA, 8-11 p.m. NBC;
Friday, 1-8 p.m. USA, 8-11 p.m., NBC; Saturday, 1-11 p.m. NBC; Sunday, 1-10 p.m. NBC. All times Eastern
New customers at BetMGM start with a first-bet offer, up to $1000. Simply sign up, make a deposit and place your first wager. If the bet loses, you’ll receive the amount of your wager back in Bonus bets.
