Best bets for the U.S. Open Championship
This past Sunday, Nick Taylor made a 72-foot eagle putt on the fourth playoff hole to become the first Canadian native since Pat Fletcher in 1954 to win the RBC Canadian Open and the first native-born Canadian to win since Karl Keffer in 1914. Taylor won his third career PGA TOUR event to keep Tommy Fleetwood, one of our tips, from winning his first. Taylor set the Oakdale CC course record on Saturday with a 63 and followed with a 66 on Sunday. Aaron Rai, another one of our tips in this column last week, finished T-3 along with Tyrrell Hatton and C.T. Pan. Eric Cole, another one of our recommendations, matched Taylor’s course record with a 63 on Sunday to finish T-6 along with Mark Hubbard, another one from our pre-tournament card. We had the leaderboard covered pre-tournament except for the eventual winner.
This week, the golf world heads to Los Angeles for the U.S. Open as the L.A. Country Club hosts for the first time.
Matt Fitzpatrick (35/1) is the defending champion and cashed in for us last year at Brookline.
Scottie Scheffler (15/2) is the current OWGR No. 1 and will be the favorite this week. He has already won twice this year (WM Phoenix Open, THE PLAYERS Championship), finished T-2 in the last major championship at the PGA, finished 3rd in his last two events (Memorial Tournament, Charles Schwab Challenge), and has three other Top 5 finishes. Scheffler has not finished worse than 12th in any of his 13 events in 2023.
Jon Rahm (9/1) won the U.S. Open for this column two years ago at Torrey Pines, and now he returns to Southern California as the Masters champion. Also returning to Southern California as a major champion is the U.S. Open’s last back-to-back (2017, 2018) winner Brooks Koepka (11/1), who won the PGA last month.
2011 U.S. Open champion Rory McIlroy (12/1) has had a heavy burden as the PGA TOUR’s main player voice in its fight against LIV Golf. McIlroy has won four times worldwide in the last 365 days, but the state of the game has clearly affected his play.
A trio of Southern California natives and OWGR Top 10 ranked players – Patrick Cantlay (16/1), Xander Schauffele (20/1), and Max Homa (33/1) – are all seeking to become first-time major championship winners.
Perhaps no player has shown up to contend more in big events, other than Scheffler, than Viktor Hovland (18/1) who earned the biggest win of his young career and cashed in for this column two weeks ago at the Memorial Tournament.
Like Fitzpatrick, Cameron Smith (30/1) comes to LA CC as a reigning major champion having won The Open Championship.
Collin Morikawa (25/1), Jordan Spieth (25/1), Dustin Johnson (35/1), Justin Thomas (35/1), Jason Day (40/1), Hideki Matsuyama (40/1), and Bryson DeChambeau (50/1) are amongst a group of past major champions looking to find their way back to the top of the game.
Meanwhile, Tony Finau (30/1), Cameron Young (40/1), Tyrrell Hatton (40/1), and Sungjae Im (45/1) are among a group of top-class players also looking for their first major triumph.
Past U.S. Open champions in the field this week include Fitzpatrick, Rahm, DeChambeau, Gary Woodland (130/1), Koepka, Dustin Johnson, Spieth, Martin Kaymer (1000/1), Justin Rose (50/1), and McIlroy.
The Event
The 123rd U.S. Open, sanctioned and governed by the United States Golf Association (USGA), comes to the Los Angeles Country Club for the first time. The last time a major championship was held in the Los Angeles area was the 1995 PGA Championship at Riviera Country Club. The LA CC has not held a professional touring event since 1940 for the Los Angeles Open (now known as the Genesis Invitational). This is the first U.S. Open held in Los Angeles in 75 years when Ben Hogan won it in 1948 at Riviera.
The $17.5 million purse is the largest of all four majors.
In line with the other majors, winning the U.S. Open gives a golfer several privileges that make his career much more secure if he is not already one of the sport’s elite players. U.S. Open champions are automatically invited to play in the other three majors (the Masters, The Open Championship (British Open), and the PGA Championship) for the next five years. They are also automatically invited to play in The Players Championship for the next five years and are exempt from qualifying for the U.S. Open for 10 years.
Winners may also receive a five-year exemption on the PGA Tour, which is automatic for regular members. Non-PGA Tour members who win the U.S. Open have the choice of joining the PGA Tour either within 60 days of winning or prior to the beginning of any one of the next five tour seasons.
Finally, U.S. Open winners receive automatic invitations to three of the five senior majors once they turn 50; they receive a five-year invitation to the U.S. Senior Open and a lifetime invitation to the Senior PGA Championship and Senior British Open.
The top 10 finishers at the U.S. Open are fully exempt from qualifying for the following year’s Open, and the top four are automatically invited to the following season’s Masters.
If the championship goes to a playoff, it goes to a two-hole aggregate score (which was adopted in 2018) and then proceeds to sudden death until a winner is decided.
The Field
This list details the exemption criteria for the 2023 U.S. Open and the players who qualified under them; any additional criteria under which players were exempt is indicated in parentheses.
1. Recent winners of the U.S. Open (2013–2022)
Bryson DeChambeau, Matt Fitzpatrick (2,11,22), Dustin Johnson (6), Martin Kaymer, Brooks Koepka (7,22), Jon Rahm (6,11,12,22), Justin Rose (22), Jordan Spieth (11,22), Gary Woodland (2)
2. Top 10 finishers and ties in the 2022 U.S. Open
Keegan Bradley (22), Joel Dahmen, Adam Hadwin, Hideki Matsuyama (6,11,22), Denny McCarthy (22), Rory McIlroy (11,12,22), Collin Morikawa (7,8,11,22), Scottie Scheffler (6,9,11,22)
Will Zalatoris (11,22) will not play.
3. The winner of the 2022 U.S. Senior Open
Pádraig Harrington
4. The winner of the 2022 U.S. Amateur
Sam Bennett
5. Winners of the 2022 U.S. Junior Amateur and U.S. Mid-Amateur, and the runner-up in the 2022 U.S. Amateur.
Ben Carr (a), Ding Wenyi (a), Matthew McClean (a)
6. Recent winners of the Masters Tournament (2019–2023)
Tiger Woods will not play.[4]
7. Recent winners of the PGA Championship (2018–2023)
Phil Mickelson, Justin Thomas (9,11,22)
8. Recent winners of The Open Championship (2018–2022)
Shane Lowry (10,22), Francesco Molinari, Cameron Smith (9,11,22)
9. Recent winners of The Players Championship (2021–2023)
10. The winner of the 2022 BMW PGA Championship
11. All players who qualified and were eligible for the 2022 Tour Championship
Sam Burns (22), Patrick Cantlay (22), Corey Conners (22), Tony Finau (12,22), Brian Harman (22), Tom Hoge (22), Max Homa (12,22), Billy Horschel (22), Viktor Hovland (22), Sungjae Im (22), K.H. Lee (22), Joaquín Niemann (22), J. T. Poston (22), Xander Schauffele (12,22), Adam Scott (22), Scott Stallings, Sepp Straka (22), Sahith Theegala (22), Aaron Wise (22), Cameron Young (22)
12. Winners of multiple PGA Tour events from the 2022 U.S. Open to the start of the 2023 tournament
Tom Kim (22)
13. The top five players in the FedEx Cup standings as of May 22 who were not yet exempt
Hayden Buckley, Mackenzie Hughes, Taylor Montgomery, Andrew Putnam, Nick Taylor
14. The top player on the 2022 Korn Ferry Tour full-season points list
Justin Suh
15. The top two players on the 2022 DP World Tour Rankings who were not yet exempt as of May 22
Thriston Lawrence, Jordan Smith
16. The top player on the 2023 Race to Dubai as of May 22 who was not yet exempt
Min Woo Lee
17. The top two point earners from the European Tour "U.S. Open Qualifying Series" who were not otherwise exempt
Simon Forsström, Romain Langasque
18. The winner of the 2022 Amateur Championship
Aldrich Potgieter (a)
19. The winner of the Mark H. McCormack Medal in 2022
Keita Nakajima forfeited his exemption by turning professional.
20. The individual winner of the 2023 NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Championship
Fred Biondi forfeited his exemption by turning professional.
21. The winner of the 2023 Latin America Amateur Championship
Mateo Fernández de Oliveira (a)
22. The leading 60 players on the Official World Golf Ranking as of May 22
Abraham Ancer, Wyndham Clark, Cameron Davis, Jason Day, Harris English, Tommy Fleetwood, Rickie Fowler, Ryan Fox, Tyrrell Hatton, Russell Henley, Lucas Herbert, Si Woo Kim, Chris Kirk, Kurt Kitayama, Matt Kuchar, Adrian Meronk, Keith Mitchell, Taylor Moore, Alex Norén, Mito Pereira, Victor Perez, Thomas Pieters, Séamus Power, Patrick Reed, Adam Svensson
23. The leading 60 players on the Official World Golf Ranking if not otherwise exempt as of June 12
Emiliano Grillo, Pablo Larrazabal, Adam Schenk
24. Special exemptions
Qualifiers
There were a record 10,187 entries received. There will be 109 local qualifying events from which the leading players will progress to the 13 final qualifying events.
