Best bets from golf experts for 2024 U.S. Open

When Scottie Scheffler isn’t arrested during a tournament, he’s virtually unbeatable.

At least that’s been the case in his last eight PGA Tour starts. Scheffler has five wins, including the Masters and the Memorial, and has finished second twice in the sizzling stretch.

The world’s top-ranked and most unflappable golfer settled for eighth place at the PGA Championship after getting arrested before the second round. The driving-related charges were dropped last month.

Scheffler is +325 at the Westgate SuperBook to win the U.S. Open, which tees off Thursday at Pinehurst No. 2, making him the shortest favorite to win a major since Tiger Woods in 2009.

Rather than lay such a short price in a field of 156 players, handicapper Wes Reynolds, co-host of VSiN’s “Long Shots” golf betting podcast, recommends a wager on Scheffler to finish in the top five.

“I played Scheffler -120 top five just like last week at the Memorial,” said Reynolds (@WesReynolds1). “Couldn’t get there 3-1 or less on an outright, but top five or even a heavy juiced top 10 is probably the best way to play him.”

Scheffler is -137 at Station Sports to finish in the top five and -230 at Circa Sports to place in the top 10. He has finished third, second and seventh in the last three U.S. Opens.

Reynolds and Westgate SuperBook golf oddsmaker Jeff Sherman also made Las Vegas resident Collin Morikawa one of their best bets to win this week.

Collin Morikawa, 17-1

Morikawa took second at the Memorial on Sunday, finishing a stroke behind Scheffler, after placing fourth in his previous two starts, including the PGA Championship. He also tied for third at the Masters.

“He’s in top form right now. He’s one of the hottest golfers in the world,” Sherman said. “He’s got some good U.S. Open recent history, too. He should really be in the mix.”

Morikawa finished 14th, fifth and fourth at the last three U.S. Opens.

Here are Reynolds’ other best bets, with comments:

Viktor Hovland, 23-1

“The Norwegian has some previous success on Donald Ross designs having won the FedEx Cup at East Lake last year and finishing tied for second in the 2023 PGA Championship at Oak Hill.”

Cameron Smith, 42-1

“The 2022 winner of The Open Championship at St. Andrews has seemingly been a bit out of sight and out of mind since joining LIV Golf.

“He still sprays it a bit off the tee, but Pinehurst No. 2 is a setup where he may not be all that penalized for that, considering the width of the fairways and the fact that the Australian certainly grew up playing out of bunkers plus the sandy waste areas that are commonplace at Pinehurst. Smith leads LIV in scrambling and is still a bit of an artist around the greens.”

Hideki Matsuyama, 44-1

“The 2021 Masters champion gained in all strokes gained categories last week at the Memorial and ranked second in the field for scrambling on the way to a tie-for-eighth finish.”

Tommy Fleetwood, 45-1

“The Englishman is a three-time top-five finisher (2017, 2018, 2023) at the U.S. Open and tied for third in the Masters this year.

“Fleetwood is an accurate driver and one of the best around the greens, and this Pinehurst setup is best for his chances to win a U.S. Open.”

Tony Finau, 75-1

“He tied for eighth last week at the Memorial, where he gained in all strokes gained categories, but hit only 50 percent of his greens and just 51.8 percent of the fairways.

“However, the ball striking has not really held him back. It has been the putter for the better part of this season that has been the issue, but these fast greens could be a great equalizer as everyone has to putt defensively.”

Here are Sherman’s other best bets, with comments:

Sahith Theegala, 57-1

“Week in, week out you might find him at 30-1 or 40-1, and here he’s on the other side of 50-1. There’s relative value on him at this time.”

Tyrrell Hatton, 71-1

“He’s usually the fourth favorite on LIV. There is relative value in the odds at (71-1) with the way he’s playing this season and what his odds have been.”

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