The Los Angeles Country Club has never hosted a major golf tournament, which adds an extra aura of excitement around this week's U.S. Open.
But, with that excitement comes an extra challenge. With no course history to base it off of, we don't really know what to expect in terms of what the winning score will be.
With that being said, I'm going to try to predict the winning score anyway. I'm also going to predict the final score for the top 10 golfers on the odds list.
Let's dive into it.
US Open score predictions
Winning score: -6
As I mentioned, this is the first time that Los Angeles Country Club is hosting a major, so I'm simply making this judgement call on how recent U.S. Opens have finished. It's the USGA who chooses this courses and sets them up for the tournament, and three straight years the U.S. Open winning score was 6-under.
So, why would this year be any different? I don't have any argument that it will be.
Scottie Scheffler score prediction: -5
Scottie Scheffler's strokes gained: tee-to-green numbers have been otherworldly. If his putting is at even an average level, he may run away with this tournament. But, it quite simply hasn't been and that's been the case for a couple of months now.
His ball striking will have him in contention, but it's tough to win a major with below average putting. I think he gets close, but misses out by a stroke.
Jon Rahm score prediction: -2
Jon Rahm won The Masters this year and hasn't golfed a ton since then, but his numbers aren't super convincing for him to win this tournament. He has gone T15, 2nd, T50, T16 in his four tournaments since winning The Masters. His putting has been hot and cold and his driving accuracy has been poor.
He already has a U.S. Open win, so he could get it done, but I think he falls short.
Brooks Koepka score prediction: -3
Brooke Koepka finished T2 at The Masters then won the PGA Championship. He already has two U.S. Open wins, so what makes me think he can't win this week? Nothing, really. But, I think it's generally tough to play as well as you have to just weeks after winning a Major. He'll be in the mix, but I don't have him winning on Sunday.
Rory McIlroy score prediction: EVEN
Rory McIlroy has played solid golf lately, with three straight top 10 finishes. But, he has melted on Sundays multiple times now. So, I could see him having a chance to win on Sunday but then shooting a couple of strokes over par and falling back to EVEN for the event.
Patrick Cantlay score prediction: Missed Cut
I truly don't understand the Patrick Cantlay love this week. He's coming off a bad start at The Memorial where he lost -0.75 strokes per round with his putting and he has never had success at Majors. Why will this week be any different? I don't think it will be.
Viktor Hovland score prediction: -6
Viktor Hovland is my pick to win this week, so I think he can get to 6-under. Not only does he have the best cumulative score by seven strokes over the last three majors, but he's the best golfer on Tour in proximity to the hole when his approach shot is from the rough. It doesn't need to be said how important that is at a U.S. Open event.
Xander Schauffele score prediction: +2
Xander Schauffele is trending in the wrong direction which makes me concerned for him this week. After finishing second at the Wells Fargo Championship, he has gone T18 then T24 in his last two starts.
Jordan Spieth score prediction: +5
Jordan Spieth is the king of getting it on the green from terrible spots, which will be good enough to get him to the weekend, but I don't have faith he'll be in contention on Sunday. His putting also hasn't been good lately, which is going to make it tough to compete at a major.
Cameron Smith score prediction: -1
LIV golfers are always tough to figure out due to not having any stats from their events to look at. With that being said, he had a strong T9 finish at the PGA Championship. He also has had plenty of success at courses that are similar to LACC. He's a wild card for me this week.
Max Homa score prediction: Missed Cut
Max Homa has more of a home course advantage than anyone else in the field, but his complete lack of success at Majors makes me very concerned for him this week. Not only has he succumb to the pressure of majors, but now he has added pressure of competing in front of his home town fans. I think he misses the cut this week.
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Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.
