Las Vegas resident one of best bets to win US Open
Xander Schauffele has played in the past five U.S. Opens and his worst finish is seventh place.
The Las Vegas resident also has placed third, fifth twice and sixth at the major, which tees off Thursday at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts.
Handicapper Wes Reynolds and Westgate SuperBook golf oddsmaker Jeff Sherman each made Schauffele one of their best bets to win the U.S. Open. He’s 25-1 at William Hill sportsbook to win his first career major.
“He’s been playing well and has done well enough on this style of course that he should be in the mix on Sunday,” said Sherman, who also likes Schauffele -115 over Cameron Smith and -130 over Jordan Spieth in tournament matchups.
Schauffele hasn’t won a full-field, 72-hole stroke play event since 2017. Reynolds, co-host of VSiN’s “Long Shots” golf betting show, said he remains a short price because he always seems to be around in big events, with six top fives and nine top 10s in majors over the last 5½ years.
“The irons have been sharper of late,” said Reynolds (@WesReynolds1). “He is always a consistent driver of the golf ball where he ranks third this season on the PGA Tour for total driving.
“If he can put his good driving with an approach game that is obviously peaking at the right time, then this week could be the breakthrough moment for the X Man.”
Here are Reynolds’ other best bets (with comments):
Jon Rahm, 15-1
Reynolds picked Rahm to win last year’s U.S. Open at 11-1 and is playing the world’s No. 2-ranked player again.
“It has been a down year by Rahm’s high standards largely due to his short game being down. Poa greens are where he putts best, so one should expect improvement in the short game this week.
“He is arguably the best driver of the golf ball in the world and ranks first on the PGA Tour for total driving. He finds the perfect balance of hitting it long and straight and that is the recipe for success on a classic U.S. Open course.”
Will Zalatoris, 25-1
Zalatoris has five top-eight finishes in seven majors the last two years, including a runner-up to Justin Thomas at the PGA Championship after losing the playoff.
“It seems to always lead to disappointment to back a player who has yet to win on the PGA Tour at shortish odds to make that first win a major. However, Zalatoris’ form in majors makes it difficult to stay away.”
Shane Lowry, 33-1
“He ranks second in this field for bogey avoidance and has shown that he has the game to contend at the U.S. Open. Remember that he held a four-shot lead heading into the final round of the 2016 U.S. Open at Oakmont before settling for a runner-up finish behind Dustin Johnson.”
Matt Fitzpatrick, 34-1
“The Englishman won the U.S. Amateur here in 2013 and should have some good mojo coming in this week with top 10s at the PGA Championship and last week in Canada.”
Tony Finau, 36-1
“Finau comes in with some momentum, even though he had to settle for second in Canada last weekend behind Rory McIlroy. Finau shot 62-64 on the weekend and should be able to carry that outstanding play into this week.”
Sungjae Im, 43-1
“I bet Im at 66-1 last week, but he has been hit big time in the market. Nonetheless, the 40s is still a fair and decent price.
“The world No. 22 is coming off a 10th at the Memorial where he gained strokes in all four major categories. His driver is an absolute weapon right now, as he’s gained over 2 strokes off the tee in four straight starts.”
Tommy Fleetwood, 89-1
“Fleetwood has good history in major championships on difficult golf courses, having gone fourth at the 2017 U.S. Open, second at the 2018 U.S. Open, second at the 2019 Open Championship and fifth at the 2022 PGA Championship.”
Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com. Follow @tdewey33 on Twitter.