The US Open picks

Dustin Johnson ov Rory McIlroy

Not a whole lot of stats in this pick.  I’m just worried about Rory and his back/rib injury.  Last time he played was at The Players a month ago and the injury flared up…I’m not convinced he’s going to be 100% the whole tournament, and if he hits the ball in the fescue and has to swing really hard to get the ball out of there, it’s going to put a ton of torque on that injury.  I’m not worried about Dustin’s last tournament where he missed the cut…I think he’s going to come out really motivated to win this major considering what happened at the Masters.

Adam Scott ov Hideki Matsuyama 

Really like the way Scott is playing right now.  Tenth last wee at St Jude, 31st at the Memorial, 6th at the Players, and I like that Scott has been consistent coming into a tournament on a course they haven’t played on.  Matsuyama started off on fire at the beginning of the year, but has really cooled off, so when you look at his season stats, they are a little deceiving.  One top 20 finish since February, and in his last 2 tournaments, he only has one round under 70.  Last 3 tournaments they’ve played in together, Adam Scott has finished ahead of Hideki.

Francesco Molinari ov Billy Horschel 

Molinari is just so consistent, no matter what course they are on.  Five straight top 25 finishes including a 6th and a second.  Very accurate off the tee…not super long, but still averaging over 290 yards.  Horschel is super inconsistent.  In his last 8 tournaments he has 5 missed cuts, a 34th, a 4th and a win.  So you never know what you’re going to get from him, so I’ll happily bet against him on a new course that he hasn’t played before.  

Jason Dufner ov Daniel Berger

I think Dufner has a chance to compete for a top 10 finish this week.  He’s coming off a win at the Memorial where he looked fantastic.  This year he has 10 top 25 finishes, so he’s been consistent on lots of different courses.  Dufner drives is more accurate than Berger which is important, but one of the reasons I think we’re getting this matchup is because Berger won last week, but that’s a course and a tournament he loves.  I’m not sure his game will translate to a course he’s not used to.  Berger only has 4 top 25 finishes in 2017, and take away the St Jude Classic that he loves, he really doesn’t have a great finish since early April at the Shell Houston Open.

Martin Kaymer ov Bubba Watson

Kayaker is always underrated, and here we go again with Kaymer as the underdog against Bubba Watson.  Kaymer and Bubba have played in 4 tournaments together this year, and Kaymer has finished ahead of Bubba in all 4 tournaments.  Bubba had a good showing at The Memorial where he finished 6th, but I think that’s the outlier.  In his previous 7 tournaments, he had 5 missed cuts or withdraws…best finish 34th.  Also, in the last 6 US Opens, Bubba has 3 missed cuts, and his best finish is 32nd.  Kaymer has 3 top 15 finishes at US Opens, including a win.

Russell Knox ov Jim Furyk 

I’ve been betting against Jim Furyk, and I’ll happily take this matchup with Knox ov Furyk.  Russell has been a disappointment this year, but Furyk has 6 straight missed cuts, and at a course that plays at 7700 yards, Furyk may be accurate off the tee but he’s 205th in driving distance.  He drives it 268 yards.  That’s not going to work out.  Knox has made the cut 3 out of the last 4 tournaments.