Who will win The Players playoff? Rex, Lav predict
The Golf Channel Podcast with Rex & Lav previews Monday morning's Players Championship playoff between Rory McIlroy and J.J. Spaun -- a "five-full-shot" format whose winner the guys agree on.
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Newsweek
an hour ago
- Newsweek
US Open 2025: Odds, Predictions, Best Bets on the Board
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. The 2025 U.S. Open is finally upon us, as the world's best golfers descend onto Oakmont Country Club just outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. There are endless storylines for the season's third major championship. Scottie Scheffler will look to retain his stranglehold on professional golf. He has three wins in his last few starts, including running away with the PGA Championship. Rory McIlroy will be looking to regain his form that saw him make history at the Masters. Once again, the best players from LIV Golf get to play alongside the PGA Tour's best. There are 14 members of LIV in the field, with several that can make some noise. But as bettors know, you don't always need to know who will win the tournament to make money. With that said, let's get to the U.S. Open odds, predictions and best bets on the board. 2025 U.S. Open Odds We could spend time listing out the odds for all 156 players in the U.S. Open field, but that does not seem like a good use of time. Knowing the history of the event, the winner will likely come from these 20 golfers. Scottie Scheffler +275 Rory McIlroy +850 Bryson DeChambeau +900 Jon Rahm +1200 Xander Schauffele +2000 Collin Morikawa +2500 Tommy Fleetwood +3500 Ludvig Aberg +3500 Joaquin Niemann +4000 Justin Thomas +4000 Tyrrell Hatton +4500 Sepp Straka +5000 Patrick Cantlay +5000 Brooks Koepka +5500 Shane Lowry +5500 Corey Conners +6000 Viktor Hovland +6000 Russell Henley +6500 Jordan Spieth +7000 Hideki Matsuyama +7000 Predictions for U.S. Open Winner Over Par This year's tournament is expected to be a bloodbath. Several players including McIlroy have taken practice rounds at Oakmont recently, leaving the impression of carnage. 🚨😳⛳️ #LOOK — Ben Griffin shows off the thick, 5+ inch rough at Oakmont's 1st hole. U.S. Open week is officially upon us. (Via bengriffingolf / TT) — NUCLR GOLF (@NUCLRGOLF) June 8, 2025 The rough is unbelievably deep and thick. The greens are exceptionally fast. If a player manages to finish under par, that might be a small miracle. For these reasons, I firmly believe the winning score come Sunday evening will be at least a few strokes over par. When Dustin Johnson won the U.S. Open here in 2016 at 5-under, the conditions were not nearly as brutal. But also, it was the first time in PGA Tour history a player led the field in Driving Distance, Greens in Regulation, and Scrambling. It is highly unlikely we see that again. The winner of the tournament will be the player whose bogey avoidance is at its strongest. This week will be all about hitting fairways, missing in the right spots, and avoiding big numbers. Rory McIlroy Misses the Cut The Northern Irishman finally got the monkey off his back winning the Masters. That also completed the career grand slam. But since that time, his game appears to have fallen off a cliff. After he was forced to switch out drivers ahead of the PGA Championship, his strength from the tee has disappeared. Last week, McIlroy posted his worst 36-hole finish of his PGA Tour career, finishing 149th and missing the cut. Knowing what the rough at Oakmont looks like, expect Rory to be hacking through 36 holes and heading home early. Best U.S. Open Bets on the Board Sepp Straka Top 5 at +800 When we are looking for value, look no further than Straka. The Austrian pro is having an exceptional season on the PGA Tour. He already has two wins, the American Express and the Truist Championship (previously Wells Fargo). The latter of which is played at another highly challenging course at the Philadelphia Cricket Club. He ranks third in the FedEx Cup standings due to his stellar play and consistency. Straka has two wins, five top 10s, and is coming off a strong third-place finish at The Memorial. Beyond that, he ranks among the best on Tour in some key statistics: namely the aforementioned Greens in Regulation (2nd) and Strokes Gained: Approach the Green (2nd). At 8-to-1, I will happily toss a few bucks on the four-time PGA Tour winner to finish on the leaderboard. Viktor Hovland to Win +5500 DUBLIN, OH - MAY 29: Viktor Hovland of Norway laughs on the putting green during the 1st round of the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday 2025 at Muirfield Village Golf Club on May 29, 2025... DUBLIN, OH - MAY 29: Viktor Hovland of Norway laughs on the putting green during the 1st round of the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday 2025 at Muirfield Village Golf Club on May 29, 2025 in Dublin, Ohio. (Photo by Michael Miller/) MoreOk, I know I wrote that the winner will likely come from the top 20. But it can be argued that Hovland is the best player on Tour without a major to his resume. He has won 11 PGA Tour and DP World Tour events, was a Ryder Cup stalwart, and captured the 2023 Tour Championship. After a year in which he was searching for his game, the Norwegian has shown signs of life this year. He snapped his winless skid when Hovland won the Valspar. He has four other top 25s to his credit in 10 starts. Historically speaking, Hovi has four top 10 finishes in majors since 2022. So, he has shown he has the gumption to be there at the end. Of course, his biggest bugaboo has been his Strokes Gained: Around the Green. But with the rough looking the way it does at Oakmont for this U.S. Open, that weakness may not be as glaring. How the ball comes out of that thick stuff will largely be dependent on luck. On a related note, in his 19 major appearances, he has curiously gained strokes around the green in 12 of them. Not to mention the oversized greens at Oakmont present several chances to play it safe and two-putt for par. Players won't be doing much pin seeking and playing it safe is something I expect Hovland to do a lot of this week. At 55-to-1 and his skill level, it is worth a few shekels. Bryson DeChambeau Top 5 at +190 DeChambeau will once again be one of the betting favorites. His ability to hit it so far off the tee will undoubtedly be an advantage. As we discussed, if someone is not able to hit it straight, they will suffer the consequences. But unlike some other U.S. Open courses the USGA set up, this one is not incredibly long. I expect DeChambeau to attempt to simply overpower the course as he did in 2020 at Winged Foot. He will be looking at a lot of 75 yard chips out of thick rough, but everyone if they miss the fairway, will be in much tougher shape. I do not believe he will win, but a top five is not out of the question for the two-time U.S. Open champion. More Golf: Scottie Scheffler Tweaks Tour Schedule with Major Ramifications
NBC Sports
12 hours ago
- NBC Sports
Rory in trouble at Oakmont barring driving fix
Rory McIlroy's driver is of paramount importance to his game, so Rex & Lav agree he's in massive trouble at Oakmont for the U.S. Open if he can't recover from a "complete disaster off the tee" in the RBC Canadian Open.
New York Post
13 hours ago
- New York Post
Rory McIlroy's strange moves, Scottie Scheffler's dominance and more star-powered US Open storylines
What's the deal with Rory McIlroy, fresh off his Masters victory to complete the career Grand Slam followed by a run of curious, if petulant, behavior since? What more might Scottie Scheffler, fresh off his dominant PGA Championship victory and another win at the Memorial, do on his unrelenting 106 consecutive week march as the world's No. 1 ranked player? Advertisement What does Bryson DeChambeau have in store as the defending champion who seems to be in the thick of contention in every major championship? What about the other star names on LIV Golf like Jon Rahm, the 2021 U.S. Open winner, Brooks Koepka, the 2017 and '18 U.S. Open winner, and Dustin Johnson, who won the U.S. Open in 2016, the last time it was played at Oakmont?
