Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas new favorites to win U.S. Open

Fresh off Rory McIlroy’s victory at the RBC Canadian Open on Sunday, the four-time major winner from Northern Ireland is now the clear favorite to win the U.S. Open.

McIlroy is the 11-1 favorite at the Westgate SuperBook to win the year’s third major, which tees off Thursday at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts. He finished runner-up to Scottie Scheffler at the Masters and placed eighth at the PGA Championship.

“He’s been flirting with wins along the way and finished it off this past week,” Westgate golf oddsmaker Jeff Sherman said. “He’s definitely one, momentum-wise, that people will be looking to be a part of this week.”

Likewise, PGA Championship winner Justin Thomas was moved to the 12-1 second choice to win the U.S. Open after placing third Sunday.

“When they finished it off (Sunday) and we took money on Rory and Justin Thomas overnight, I lowered them and bumped some other guys up,” Sherman said.

Scheffler was bumped from 12-1 to 14-1 alongside Jon Rahm.

“It’s still tough to ask Scheffler to win two majors in a year,” Sherman said. “What Thomas did coming off winning the most recent major, then finishing third this week, there will be more interest in Thomas than on Scheffler at this point.

“Thomas looks like he’s sustaining his top form going into this one.”

McIlroy is the ticket leader at the Westgate, which has been taking bets on the U.S. Open since last August. Scheffler is No. 2 in tickets and Thomas is No. 3, followed by Las Vegas residents Xander Schauffele and Collin Morikawa.

Schauffele is 20-1 to win his first major while two-time major winner Morikawa is in a pack of six golfers at 25-1.

Cameron Smith is 20-1, followed by Jordan Spieth, Patrick Cantlay, Will Zalatoris, Sam Burns and Matt Fitzpatrick at 25-1.

Scheffler is the money leader at the Westgate, followed by Bryson DeChambeau, Rahm, Thomas and McIlroy.

DeChambeau is one of the largest liabilities at the SuperBook, which took a $1,500 wager to win $90,000 at 60-1. He’s 100-1 now.

“He’s played one tournament since returning from hand surgery and missed the cut badly at the Memorial,” Sherman said. “It’s tough to see him shooting nine over at the Memorial to a victory here.”

DeChambeau is the latest PGA Tour star to join the Saudi-backed LIV Golf Invitational series. While the PGA Tour indefinitely suspended any player competing in LIV Golf events, the U.S. Open is allowing exempt LIV players to compete at the major this week.

Dustin Johnson has the lowest odds of any LIV player at 40-1, while Phil Mickelson is 300-1.

William Hill sportsbook has posted a prop on the LIV Golf top finisher at the U.S. Open. Johnson is the 3-1 favorite, followed by Louis Oosthuizen (+450), Patrick Reed (+550), DeChambeau (6-1), Talor Gooch (7-1), Sergio Garcia (10-1), Las Vegas resident Kevin Na (10-1) and Mickelson (12-1).

Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com. Follow @tdewey33 on Twitter.