US Open Golf 2022 Guide: Betting Odds, Course Info & Contenders
PGA Tour stars and Saudi rebels will assemble in Massachusetts to battle for glory at the US Open this week.
The USGA will permit Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson and the other players that defected to the Saudi-backed LIV Series to compete in this tournament. It will be intriguing to see if they can make a sustained challenge at the third major of the year.
Meanwhile, Cameron Smith will lead the charge for the Australian contenders as he bids to erase the disappointment of his late collapse at the Masters. Read on to learn more about Smith’s chances of success in the 2022 US Open.
Where is the US Open Golf 2022?
The US Open will be held at The Country Club at Brookline, Massachusetts. This course last hosted the US Open in 1988, which ended with Curtis Strange prevailing in a playoff against Nick Faldo. It was also the venue for the 1999 Ryder Cup, when Europe trailed 10-6 going into the final day and rallied to win 14 ½ to 13 ½. We have provided details about this course further down the page, but first, let’s take a look at the leading contenders for the tournament.
Top 10 Players in the US Open 2022 Betting
Mickelson, Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau, Patrick Reed, Charl Scwartzel, Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood have dominated the headlines over the past few weeks. They have received astronomical sums to take part in the LIV Series – a controversial tournament due to allegations of Saudi “sportwashing” – and they were suspended from the PGA Tour as a result.
However, it is worth noting that none of those players currently sit within the top 10 in the world rankings, and they are all considered long-shots for US Open glory. These are the top 10 players in the betting:
Scottie Scheffler (11.00)
The world number one lived up to his billing by destroying the field at the Masters earlier this year. Scheffler burst onto the scene in 2020, when he finished T4 at the PGA Championship, and he already has four PGA Tour wins under his belt. The 25-year-old Texan missed the cut at the PGA Championship last month, but he bounced back with a runner-up finish at the Charles Schwab Challenge. He has already won four tournaments this year, so we make him the favourite for the US Open.
Jon Rahm (15.00)
The Spaniard is the defending US Open champion after he held off the challenge of Louis Oosthuizen at Torrey Pines last year. Rahm picked up his first win since that triumph in Mexico last month. The world number two has skipped the Canadian Open to prepare for the US Open, and he will bid to return to his brilliant best this week.
Justin Thomas (15.00)
Thomas won the second major of his career when he beat Will Zalatoris in a playoff at last month’s PGA Championship. That has propelled him up to sixth in the world rankings, and he could soon regain the number one spot if he maintains this sparkling form. He is the joint second favourite.
Rory McIlroy (15.00)
McIlroy looks back to his best this year. His last major triumph came in 2014, but he is knocking on the door now. He finished runner-up to Scheffler at the Masters and then eighth at the PGA Championship. He will come into this tournament full of confidence after winning the Canadian Open at the weekend – his 21st PGA Tour victory – and he may well be the most consistent player so far this year. However, McIlroy will need to improve his scrambling and shots gained around the green if he is to get the better of his illustrious rivals this week.
Cameron Smith (16.00)
The Brisbane native made a flying start to 2022 when he finished one shot clear of Rahm to win the Sentry Tournament of Champions in January. He followed it up with an impressive victory in The Players Championship in March, so he was among the favourites for the Masters. He was just one stroke behind Scheffler on the final day, but he hit a tee shot into Rae’s Creek on the 12th, ending his chances of success, as he ended up T3. He was T13 at the PGA Championship, and he will now bid for a first major victory. We have him just behind Rahm, Thomas and McIlroy in the betting.
Jordan Spieth (23.00)
Spieth has enjoyed something of a renaissance over the past year. He won the US Open and the Masters as a youngster in 2015, followed by The Open Championship in 2017, but Spieth then endured a painful time in the wilderness. He ended a four-year title drought by winning the Texas Open in 2021, followed by the RBC Heritage in 2022, and he was also runner-up at last year’s Open Championship.
Patrick Cantlay (23.00)
Cantlay is one of the most talented players without a major victory. He won the FedEx Cup and the PGA Tour Player of the Year award last year, and he claimed his seventh PGA Tour win in New Orleans in April. However, he has struggled at majors, so he will be desperate to turn things around at Brookline.
Xander Schauffele (23.00)
Schauffele always seems to be in the mix at major tournaments. In the past five years, he has finished T5, T6, T3, fifth and T7 at the US Open. He has also been a runner-up at the Masters and the US Open, with nine top-10 finishes at majors so far. However, he has never quite managed to go all the way.
Collin Morikawa (26.00)
Morikawa has been very consistent at majors over the past two years. He won the PGA Championship and The Open Championship at the first time of asking, and he has five top1- finishes from 10 attempts at majors. He was fifth in the Masters earlier this year, and he is a leading contender to add to his trophy collection this week.
Matthew Fitzpatrick (26.00)
Fitzpatrick is level in the betting with Morikawa, Norwegian prodigy Viktor Hovland and Zalatoris. The Englishman finished T14 at the Masters and T5 at the PGA Championship this year, so he will carry momentum into this tournament.
Brookline Course Features
The Country Club at Brookline was established in 1882. It is one of the five charter clubs that founded the United States Golf Association, which runs the US Open. Brookline has been heavily renovated since it last hosted this tournament.
Gil Hanse, a renowned golf architect, has overseen the alterations. His team removed lots of trees and extended the greens, but they remain very small at an average of 446 square metres. The course includes wild fescue rough and some hazardous hillocks, so accuracy is important. There are just two par-fives on this par-70, 6,675-metre course.
US Open Golf Prize Money 2022
Prize money for the 2021 US Open was $12.5 million, making it the richest major of the year. The PGA Championship upped the ante this year by offering a $15 million prize purse, so the US Open is expected to follow suit.
US Open Golf Winner Trends
These are the key US Open winner trends to bear in mind ahead of this year’s tournament:
- Seven of the last 10 winners were American. The other three were European. The last Australian to win was Geoff Ogilvy in 2006.
- Six of the last 10 winners were inside the top 10 in the world rankings. Each of the last 10 winners was in the top 30.
- Each of the last 10 winners had a top-eight finish in their last five starts.
- Greens in Regulation (GIR) is the key statistical category for recent US Open winners. The current top five on the PGA Tour features Rahm, Scheffler, Russell Knox, Corey Conners and Zalatoris.
- Five of the last six US Open champions had never previously won a major.
US Open Golf 2022 Aussie Contenders
Smith is the leading Australian contender this year. The next Aussie in the betting is Adam Scott, the 2013 Masters winner, who is currently 43rd in the world rankings. He is priced at 81.00 to win the US Open, while Marc Leishman – a six-time winner on the PGA Tour – is 101.00.
Jason Day, the former world number one, has not qualified for the US Open this year. The other Aussies in contention are Lucas Herbert (201.00), Min Woo Lee (251.00) and Todd Sinnott (501.00).
How to Watch US Open Golf in Australia
You can watch live coverage and on-demand replays of the US Open at Kayo and Foxtel in Australia. Fox Sports has the broadcast rights. The first round begins on Thursday in the United States, so it will start at 4am AEST on Friday, with the action concluding at around 10am AEST on Monday.
US Open Golf 2022 Betting
You will find a wealth of US Open betting options at TopSport, including the winner, a top 5 finish, top 10 finish, top 20 finish, the winning margin, head-to-head matchups and much more. Check out our US Open winner odds here.
**Odds quoted are accurate at the time of writing but are subject to change
