For the first time since 2008, we are at Torrey Pines in San Diego for the US Open, the third major of the year - they come thick and fast at this point. The 2008 edition was a truly memorable one, with Tiger Woods holing his famous 'Expect anything different?' putt to force an 18 hole playoff with likeable New York journeyman Rocco Mediate, which Woodsy duly (though barely) won to claim the 14th and last major before it all went south for him. Torrey Pines is a familiar venue as it also hosts a regular PGA Tour event in January/February each year. However, the US Open is the self-declared 'toughest test in golf' so you can expect a much drier and tougher golf course than the one seen a few months back when Fat Pat Reed claimed his most recent victory.
Unlike the last two majors, the US Open (as the name suggests) takes its field (after the usual top 50 exemptions etc) from a series of open qualifying events. As such you get some right old randomers who manage to make it through alongside the more familiar names. The highest profile such event was last Monday in Columbus, where the last place in the field was decided by the carnage a 12 man playoff (going for 1 place). England's Ben Taylor holed his approach shot for an eagle to send the other 11 - including Rickie Fowler - packing. Fowler and other fallen names didn't make it but you will see appearances from Peru's Luis Barco, Costa Rica's Luis Gagne, and some classic American golfer regen names like Zach Zaback, Davis Shore and Wilson Furr.
In between my own schedule and the Euros, I hope to get as much viewing in as possible, and this week I have a quite simple six fancies to go with.
Xander Schauffele 16/1. Sooner or later, it has to happen for Xander at a major championship. Among the top players, he has consistently shown perhaps the greatest ability to peak at the right time for the majors. He's had 8 top 10 finishes at majors by the age of 27, and nowhere has he looked more comfortable than on the tough US Open setups, where in four stabs he has incredibly never finished below 6th place. Not only that, but he is in his home city of San Diego so will undoubtedly feel comfortable at a venue he knows well and where he finished in a tie for second place earlier this year. I find this price surprising.
Tony Finau 25/1. For a player whose continued failure to win is almost a running joke in golf circles - see this
song which went viral last year - Tony has been a surprisingly profitable geezer for me, bringing home 9.3 of the 292.43pts I'm up this year. As such, when he came up on the computer's radar for this I was happy to plough in again. I have a sort of vision of him finally winning and it being a US Open (or maybe a Masters). The reason for this is he is quite simply better at golf than almost everyone. He has logged a cool ten top 10 finishes in majors, most of them more of the backdoor variety compared to Xander, but that's still no bad thing for an each way bet. I just hope at some point he gains a putting stroke and/or a temperament.
Joaquin Niemann 50/1. He has long been a favourite of mine, not just for his dreamy Chilean eyes but mainly because he has a phenomenally consistent golf game. He has yet to really turn up at a major but it has to happen some time and I don't see why it shouldn't happen at a venue like Torrey Pines where his sneaky distance and crisp iron play will be of great benefit. This price feels just long of right.
Jason Kokrak 60/1. This price, on the other hand, feels really quite long. Kokrak is a recent winner and has really come to the fore over the last year, apparently since changing his putting grip. This allowed him to start capitalising on his unsubtle length - he's more a Dodge Ram of golfers than a Ferrari Enzo. Nonetheless his win over (an admittedly bed-shitting) Spieth the other week will have given him confidence that his career is finally at a point where he can take on the big dogs. He'll have to have a good putting week but his game feels well inside this price.
Charley Hoffman 80/1. Hoffman has had a quietly very good year on Tour - 29th on the points list without a win - and at 44 the chances are starting to run out for someone right on the cusp of being a journeyman or not. Four wins in his career is a good record and the first of them also came in southern California, where we are this week, albeit inland. Hoffman's main claim to fame is being the first round leader at the Masters - something he has done several times - and then fading at the weekend. In fact, his best major finish was 8th at the US Open in 2017 and he's made the cut at six of the seven US Opens he's contested. With his ball-striking form the way it is, I can't resist a punt.
Chan Kim 500/1. Although an American citizen, Kim plays primarily in Japan and had to qualify for this from scratch. He did so with aplomb, winning the Rolling Hills qualifying site with aplomb at -10 from two rounds. What I cannot understand is why an accomplished golfer ranked as highly as 83 in the world is slumming it at 500/1 along with all the plebs ranked around 300 places lower. Sure, the OWGR can overvalue wins in Japan, but wins are wins, and they mean you are better than the competition, so I find it mystifying. Perhaps all the Kims blend into one another and people without a strong American presence can be overlooked. Although unlikely, a top 11 (Skybet pays this many places) seems far from impossible and I will be having a piece.