2019 U.S. Open PGA Odds, Preview and Prediction

The U.S. Open Golf tournament is an annual tournament held in the United States which is part of the official PGA and European Tour schedule. It is one of the four golf majors and will be the second major to be played this year.

The 2019 U.S. Open golf tournament is the 119th edition of the tournament. This year, the U.S. Open will be held on June 13-16, 2019 at the Pebble Beach Golf Links in Pebble Beach, California. Check out our PGA Tour golf betting tips.

U.S. Open History

The first U.S. Open was held in 1895 and was contested between 10 professionals and one amateur over 36 holes in a nine-hole course at the Newport Country Club. Since 1898, the tournament has been played over 72 holes of stroke play of four rounds of 18 holes per round. The golfer with the lowest total number of strokes is declared the winner of the tournament.

The U.S. Open has been hosted by several golf courses in the United States and this year, the Pebble Beach Golf Links in Pebble Beach, California will be hosting the U.S. Open golf tournament for the sixth time. The winner will receive a chunk of the $12M purse money plus a gold champion’s medal and the U.S. Open Champions Cup which the winner gets to keep for a year.

Willie Anderson, Bobby Jones, Ben Hogan and Jack Nicklaus have won the tournament a total of four times each, the most for any golfer. Anderson has the distinction of winning three straight U.S. Open tournaments from 1903 to 1905. Rory McIlroy hold the record for lowest aggregate score at 268 in 2011. McIlroy and defending champion Brooks Koepka share the record for lowest score in relation to par, at 16 under par.

What Happened Last Year

Last year, Dustin Johnson took a four stroke lead over Charley Hoffman and Scott Piercy after two rounds with Brooks Koepka five strokes down. But Johnson shot a seven over 77 in Round 3, resulting in a four-way tie with Daniel Berger, Tony Finau and the defending champion Koepka.

In the final round, Koepka got off to a fast start with three birdies in his first five holes. He would collect a 68 score in the final round, one stroke better than Tommy Fleetwood who  made a dramatic comeback with a final round of 63 but missed an eight-foot putt at the 18th hole that would have forced a two-hole playoff.

With the victory, Koepka became the first golfer since Curtis Strange in 1989 to successfully defend the U.S. Open Golf title and seventh all-time to win consecutive U.S. Open golf tournaments. Koepka is among the early favorites to win the tournament although he isn’t on top of the oddsboard right now.

Here are the early odds to win the 2019 U.S. Open. Odds taken from Bovada as of 4/2/19:

The Favorites

Although he finished just a T45 in the 2019 Pebble Beach AT&T National Pro-Am,  there is no denying that Dustin Johnson loves to play at Pebble Beach Golf Links. DJ finished a T-2 in 2018 and 2014 and won the Pebble Beach AT&T Pro-Am in 2009 and 2010. With the U.S. Open set to be held there for the sixth time since 1972, you have to like his chances there.

As we mentioned earlier, DJ led the 2018 U.S Open by four strokes after two rounds but a disastrous third round forced him to finish the tournament at 3rd place. Johnson has placed in the Top 10 of the U.S. Open in all but one instance since 2014. With this resume on both the tournament and the golf course itself, no question that Dustin Johnson is the odds on favorite to win the 2019 US Open.

Rory McIlroy is the next name on the oddsboard. The 2011 U.S. Open winner is having a fine start to his 2019 campaign. McIlroy has finished in the Top 10 of every tournament he’s played in 2019, including five Top-5 finishes. He won THE PLAYERS Championship last month and is coming off a T-9 at the 2019 WGC DELL Match Play. Since 2014, McIlroy’s U.S. Open resume has been a T-2, T-2, T-3, cut and cut.

Tiger Woods’ history at the U.S. Open has made him a favorite in this tournament. Woods has won the U.S. three times –  in 2000, 2002 and 2008. Remember that Woods’ 2008 U.S. Open win at Torrey Pines stands as his last Majors win. This year, Woods has played in just five tournaments and has not finished lower than 30 in all five. Tiger is coming off a T5 at the WGC Dell Match Play.

Justin Rose won the U.S. Open in 2013 but has missed the cut twice in the last four years. The #2 ranked player in the world has five Top 10 finishes in five out of the seven tournaments he’s played in 2019. These include 3 Top-10 finishes with his victory at the 2019 Farmers Cup his biggest win this year.

Brooks Koepka has struggled in his last three tournaments played and only has one Top 20 finish in 2019 and that was his runner-up finish at the 2019 Honda Open. But despite his slow start, Koepka’s recent performances at the U.S. Open makes him a favorite. The 28 year old world #4 has won the U.S. Open the last two years. He will be looking to become the first golfer since Willie Anderson from 1903-195 to win three straight U.S. Open golf titles. But while that would be a massive milestone for Koepka, winning it a third straight time is easier said than done, especially with a loaded field waiting in the wings.

Who Wins?

I like how Koepka has played well at the U.S. Open in the previous two seasons. However, winning three in a row may be unlikely, especially since no one has done it since 1903-05. When it comes to consistency on a week-to-week basis, I like Dustin Johnson, Justin Rose and Koepka. Between the three, I am leaning towards Dustin Johnson because he’s the one who has the better resume at Pebble Beach Links.

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