Golf fans are still buzzing after the dramatic conclusion to this past weekend’s Canadian Open when Nick Taylor edged out Tommy Fleetwood in a playoff thanks to a remarkable 72-foot walk-off eagle putt in front of the home crowd.
That wild outcome came on the heels of the shocking PGA-LIV merger news and now we head straight into the 2023 U.S. Open, which sets up to be a terrific weekend of golf.
The hybrid field of the sport’s best is set to tee off Thursday at Los Angeles Country Club’s North Course in California, the first major event held at the course.
Besides a slight chance of showers on the tournament’s opening day, the weather looks ideal for the third major of 2023.
Lauded by golf enthusiasts and widely considered among the best in North America, LACC was ranked by Golf Digest as the 16th-greatest course in the U.S. for 2023-24.
It should make for a challenging 18 holes.
“It’s a design that I like,” Jon Rahm said of LACC via PGATour.com. “It makes you think. It’s very intricate green complexes. You’ve got to play the angles a little bit, and especially if you miss the greens, you’re going to find yourself in some interesting spots to get up-and-down. It’s got everything. It’s got all the ingredients to be a great week.”
The course will play as a par 70 at roughly 7,400 yards with three par 5s, including a 590-yard opening hole that presents a scoring opportunity, five par 3s, two of which are in the 290-yard range, and 10 par 4s, including each of the final three holes that alone exceed 1,550 combined yards.
The tee times and groupings for Round 1 and Round 2 were finalized earlier this week. The half dozen most notable trios are as follows:
Jon Rahm – Viktor Hovland – Xander Schauffele
Scottie Scheffler – Max Homa – Collin Morikawa
Brooks Koepka – Hideki Matsuyama – Rory McIlroy
Jordan Spieth – Tony Finau – Patrick Cantlay
Shane Lowry – Justin Thomas – Tommy Fleetwood
Bryson DeChambeau – Francesco Molinari – Tyrrell Hatton
Canadian Corey Conners is set to play with 2019 U.S. Open champ Gary Woodland and 2013 Masters winner Adam Scott on Thursday and Friday, while the red-hot Nick Taylor is in the third-to-last grouping with Sebastian Munoz and Taylor Montgomery.
There are seven Canadians in the field this week. Joining Conners (+180 odds for top Canadian via Sports Interaction) and Taylor (+450) are Adam Hadwin (+500), Mackenzie Hughes (+600), Taylor Pendrith (+600), Adam Svensson (+600) and Roger Sloan (+2000).
FAVOURITES & FRONTRUNNERS
Limiting mistakes on a course like LACC North should be vital for success and no golfer limits mistakes like Scheffler. His average of 2.775 strokes gained tee-to-green is so far ahead of his peers it’s mindboggling, and he’s doing it while not putting particularly well of late. The world No. 1 has four consecutive top-five finishes over the past five weeks, including his T2 at the PGA Championship, and has finished T12 or better in 15 consecutive tournaments dating back to November.
It’s no surprise to see Koepka with the third-shortest odds entering the opening round. The five-time major winner and two-time U.S. Open champ is a clutch performer who followed up a T2 at April’s Masters with a two-stroke win at the PGA Championship in May.
Of the top-10 betting favourites at this tournament, Viktor Hovland, Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele are the only ones looking to win their first major tournament. All three have what it takes to succeed this week.
Hovland is riding high off a win at the Memorial two weeks ago and had strong showings at the first two majors of 2023, finishing T7 at The Masters and T2 alongside Scheffler and behind Koepka at the PGA Championship.
The well-rounded and methodical Cantlay has top-10 results in every major except at a U.S. Open where his best finish was his T14 one year ago.
Schauffele, meanwhile, has ended up T7 or better in five of the six U.S. Opens in which he has competed with his worst finish a T14 in 2022 when Matt Fitzpatrick won his first major.
Could we see another first-time winner this year?
A European has won the U.S. Open in each of the past two years with Jon Rahm winning in 2021, which snapped a six-year run of Americans winning.
CONTENDERS WITH SOLID VALUE & LONGSHOTS
Tyrrell Hatton (+3000) continues to be among the most consistent golfers on tour and coming off a T3 at the Canadian Open. His strokes gained metrics this season trail only Scheffler and Rahm.
Justin Rose (+3500) is another Englishmen enjoying a solid 2023, Rose has three straight top-12 finishes in the past month. Between hitting the fairway more than 63 per cent of the time and his consistent putting there’s yet again value to be found for a top-10 (350) or top-20 (+160) finish.
Hideki Matsuyama (+4000) is another quality player flying slightly under the radar this week. The 2021 Masters champ is coming off a fourth-place finish at the U.S. Open last year. Matsuyama’s ability to get creative could aid him on a tough course like LACC.
Wyndham Clark (+6000) has quietly put together a solid 2023 and should be a popular value play this week at these odds. He missed the cut at the PGA Championship in May, sure, but also has four top-10 finishes since the beginning of March and won the Wells Fargo Championship by four strokes when he shot 68 or lower in all four rounds.
Russell Henley (+11000) could be longshot to watch with five top-20 finishes in his past six outings, one of those being a T4 at The Masters. He currently ranks first on the PGA Tour in driving accuracy and keeping to the fairways on this course will set you up for optimal success. His ability to scramble from the rough and fringe could be factor as well.