Scottie Scheffler’s dominance heading into the 124th US Open
One of the biggest weeks of the golf season is here it’s the 124th US Open at Pinehurst #2. Pinehurst #2 is one of the most iconic venues in golf and a true test for the best in the world, to speak to how Pinehurst #2 is viewed it’s the first time in a century a venue has been awarded four opens in a 25 year span.
One of the major story lines heading into the week was the health of LIV star Jon Rahm’s foot after he withdrew from last weekends LIV event, but any speculation was cleared up earlier today when Rahm withdrew from the open due to a foot infection. For LIV, Rahm and golf fans this is a massive loss even though Rahm has struggled this season in majors he’s still one of the best players in the world and the more great players in the field the better the event.
The other major story line heading into the US Open is the best golfer in the world Scottie Scheffler continuing to go scorched earth on the rest of the golf world over the last few months. In Scheffler’s last 5 starts he has 3 wins and the only tournament he finished outside the top 2 in was the PGA Championship where he was arrested after a bizarre incident with a police officer outside Valhalla in Kentucky.
To say that Scheffler has been dominant over the last few months is a disservice to just how good Scheffler has been. Scheffler has played in 13 events this PGA season and has only finished outside the top 10 one time, Scheffler already has 5 wins on the season and 2 runner up finishes making the cut in every event he’s played in. As expected Scheffler is a heavy favorite again heading into the US Open and a bet on anyone else at this point almost seems irresponsible.
Scheffler is without a doubt the major story heading into this major but two other storylines that have peaked my interest heading into the tournament is Rory McIlroy’s decade long major drought and Xander Shauffele playing in his first major since finally getting the monkey off his back and winning the PGA Championship. It’s been over 3,500 days since McIlroy’s last major and the pressure has to be getting to him, even if he’s been playing some of the best golf of his career the last few years he still hasn’t been able to get back in the winners circle at a major. Could this week finally be the week Rory breaks through and takes down Scheffler? It will take his best golf but of all the players in the field Rory has a good a shot as any.
For Schauffele he was one of the major storylines heading into the last few majors as one of if not the best player in the world who just couldn’t get over the hump. But after a great performance at the PGA Championship Schauffele finally has his first major and now with that no longer looming over his head could the door be broken down for him to go on a run and win a few over the next couple years?
Scheffler is the betting favorite at +300 heading into the tournament and for good reason he’s approaching Tiger Woods level of odds for these tournaments. So expecting anyone else to win would be a bit of a surprise but I expect Rory, Xander and Bryson DeChambeau to give Scottie a run this week and give us a great show at one of golf’s hardest tests.
