U.S. Open Matchup Picks

All of the world’s top golfers are in the field for this week’s U.S. Open in Los Angeles. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler is listed as the favorite at BetRivers. Scheffler is the best ball striker on the PGA Tour right now and if he gets his putter going, he will be tough to beat. NBC will be providing the bulk of the television coverage this weekend and since it is on the West Coast it would not be a surprise to see some of the action take place in Prime Time on the East Coast. I am coming off a 2-2 week with the matchups at the RBC Canadian Open. Let’s look at U.S. Open matchup picks.

Defending Champion: Matt Fitzpatrick

Tournament Notes: Los Angeles Country Club can stretch out to 7,423 yards. It has five par 3’s and three par 5’s. The fairways are wide, but position off the tee will still be important. The weather should be excellent all weekend.

U.S. Open Matchups

Scheffler, Scottie -162 vs. Rahm, Jon

McIlroy, Rory -137 vs. Koepka, Brooks

Cantlay, Patrick -120 vs. Schauffele, Xander

Hovland, Viktor -143 vs. Hatton, Tyrrell

Morikawa, Collin -137 vs. Homa, Max

Spieth, Jordan -134 vs. Smith, Cameron

Fitzpatrick, Matthew -143 vs. Fleetwood, Tommy

Finau, Tony -137 vs. Johnson, Dustin

Matsuyama, Hideki -120 vs. Thomas, Justin

Rose, Justin -120 vs. Lowry, Shane

Young, Cameron -129 vs. Burns, Sam

Day, Jason -137 vs. Scott, Adam

Fowler, Rickie -137 vs. Conners, Corey

McCarthy, Denny -120 vs. Bradley, Keegan

Clark, Wyndham -143 vs. Theegala, Sahith

Henley, Russell -143 vs. Woodland, Gary

Pereira, Mito -120 vs. Niemann, Joaquin

Kim, Si Woo -120 vs. Reed, Patrick

Min Woo Lee -125 vs. Davis, Cameron

Hadwin, Adam -120 vs. Kirk, Chris

Meronk, Adrian -120 vs. Kitayama, Kurt

Power, Seamus -137 vs. Noren, Alexander

Mitchell, Keith -125 vs. Harman, Brian

Cole, Eric -125 vs. Suh, Justin

English, Harris -120 vs. Grillo, Emiliano

Golf Picks

Cantlay, Patrick -120 vs. Schauffele, Xander

This is a scary matchup since both players are trying to win their first major. I oftentimes will back Schauffele and he disappoints me, so I am wary of this matchup, but the fact is that Cantlay is the better player, as he leads the PGA Tour in all-around. He is longer off the tee and his game has no real weaknesses. Schauffele can simply be unpredictable and make mistakes. I’ll take Cantlay in this matchup.

Fitzpatrick, Matthew -143 vs. Fleetwood, Tommy

We’ll see if Fleetwood can get over last week’s collapse. He should have won the Canadian Open, but simply choked on the 18^th hole. Fitzpatrick is the defending U.S. Open champion and the better overall player. He has four top 20 finishes in his last six starts. I’ll take Fitzpatrick in this matchup.

Reed, Patrick -110 vs. Kim, Si Woo

Reed has played well in the majors this year with a tie for fourth at the Masters and a tie for 18^th at the PGA. He is almost always in contention in majors and he has five top 20 finishes in the U.S. Open. I have gone against Kim quite a bit in the past and this year he has played well and forced me to rethink that strategy, but in this case, I am taking Reed at the short number.

Woodland, Gary +113 vs. Henley, Russell

I talked in the picks preview about how distance off the tee will be more important than accuracy since this course is long with wide fairways. Woodland is one of the best on the PGA Tour in terms of distance, as he ranks in the Top 10, yet he is not that accurate. Henley is just the opposite, as he is very accurate, but he doesn’t have much distance. I think distance will be a big advantage this week, so I’ll take Woodland at plus money in this matchup.

Mitchell, Keith -125 vs. Harman, Brian

Another matchup just like the previous one in terms of distance and accuracy is this one. Mitchell is very long off the tee, while Harman is short but accurate. Mitchell is also not that bad in terms of accuracy compared to Woodland in the previous matchup. Mitchell should have the advantage in this matchup, so I will lay the short price.

Check out U.S. Open odds at BetRivers.