Professional golf in 2023 is as exciting as ever, with members of both the PGA Tour and the rebel LIV Golf League providing fans with some of the most intriguing storylines across the world of sport. Action is set to heat up even further this month as the third major of the year, the US Open, is set to take place at the Los Angeles Country Club from the 15-18 June.
While Jon Rahm, Scottie Scheffler, Brooks Koepka and Rory McIlroy are the four favourites in the us open odds at the time of writing, there are plenty of tempting outsiders who are worth considering. With that in mind, read on as we dissect those players wider in the betting lines who are worth taking a look at.
Viktor Hovland
Garnering a price currently of 18/1, Norway’s Viktor Hovland is taking incredible form with him to California. The 25-year-old won the Memorial Tournament at the Muirfield Village Golf Club most recently, in which he finished joint seven under with the United States’ Denny McCarthy. Hovland would go on to win the tournament in the playoff, marking his fourth PGA Tour victory and his first since 2021.
When speaking with the media, Hovland noted that his late surge of form has been no fluke.
“I’ve been playing well, but I’ve just been trying to stay within myself and play my own game,” Hovland said. “Maybe before I would have fired at some pins that I shouldn’t have fired at. I just played smart, played my game and came up clutch this time. It feels even better after some close calls the last few months.”
If he can display a similar showing at the Los Angeles Country Club later this month, the Norwegian could surprise some of the more favoured contenders come Sunday.
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Cameron Smith
After an incredible final season as part of the PGA Tour, in which he won the Players Championship and Open Championship in the same calendar year, Cameron Smith has failed to replicate that success since joining the LIV Golf League. His performances in the Masters and PGA Championship were far from his best, with the Australian finishing 34th and ninth respectively.
Although those results don’t read particularly well, count out a champion like Smith at your own risk. He has the talent, composure and mentality to win a major golf event again – and for those who believe the 29-year-old is capable of doing so – he is paying 25/1 with most operators.
Justin Thomas
As a result of not making the cut at the Memorial Tournament, the United States’ Justin Thomas has widened in the betting lines to 22/1. That’s a great price for a two-time major champion of Thomas’ calibre, and if the 30-year-old can return to the form that saw him win the PGA Championship as recently as 2022, he will make plenty of his competitors nervous if he’s there or thereabouts down the stretch of the US Open. And he will have plenty of motivation to do so, as Thomas is yet to reign supreme in a US Open.
