US Open betting tips: Hatton can be star of the show in Los Angeles

Preview, odds and US Open betting tips

Matt Fitzpatrick defends his US Open title at the Los Angeles Country Club on Thursday when Scottie Scheffler starts as the 6/1 favourite.

Fitzpatrick warmed up for the year’s third major with a top-20 finish at the Canadian Open and is 25/1 for a successful defence, with Ladbrokes offering 10 each-way places, but since 1990 only Brooks Koepka has won back-to-back US Open titles, so it may pay dividends to look elsewhere in the search for a winner.

Koepka was our headline tip at 16/1 to win last month’s US PGA Championship and hopefully we can pick out another from our five US Open betting tips.

Unfamiliar territory for US Open field

Very few players will be familiar with the 7,423-yard par-70 North Course which last hosted a PGA Tour event in 1940, although it staged the 2017 Walker Cup when the US crushed Great Britain & Ireland.

The course is unusual in that it starts with a par-five and one of the five par-threes – the 11th – measures 290 yards, although on the flip side, the 15th is just 120 yards.

Unlike most US Opens, the fairways are quite wide and although the firm, sloping greens will act as a deterrent, the course is likely to favour long hitters even if the rough is penal.

Thank you to everyone who tuned in to watch George Thomas in Los Angeles! His work at LACC, Bel-Air, and Riviera certainly stands the test of time.

If you missed out on either our LACC Preview video or George Thomas profile, check out our YouTube page:https://t.co/VPOLs5LJM9 pic.twitter.com/J91Z41yRFx

— The Fried Egg (@the_fried_egg) June 13, 2023

Four Brits have won the US Open in the last 13 years and we start our selections with another – Tyrrell Hatton.

The 31-year-old from High Wycombe may not have the best US Open record, but he finished sixth at Shinnecock Hills five years ago and he heads to California in excellent form.

Hatton has six successive top-20 finishes in the United States, including T15 at last month’s US PGA Championship despite an opening-round 77, and he warmed up for this week with third place in Canada.

Just outside the top 40 for driving distance on the PGA Tour, Hatton also ranks seventh in the crucial strokes gained: tee-to-green stats which should play a big part in determining this week’s winner. For the record, Scheffler, Jon Rahm and Rory McIlroy occupy the top-three spots in this category.

Enjoyable week at the @RBCCanadianOpen, pleased with a T3 finish.
Amazing crowds & incredible win for @ntaylorgolf59. 🇨🇦
Next stop @usopengolf. pic.twitter.com/SVEPTFvUWe

— Tyrrell Hatton (@TyrrellHatton) June 12, 2023

First-time major winners are a common feature of the US Open and Hatton could become the latest at 25/1, down from 28/1 on Monday.

The 2021 US Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama has been playing very nicely in the last few months and is the next of our US Open betting tips at a juicy 33/1.

He may lack the length of his peers, but an average drive of 296 yards is not to be sniffed at and he has only missed the cut once in 10 appearances at the US Open where he was fourth last year and runner-up six years ago at Erin Hills.

Incidentally, Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner were responsible for last year’s redesigned course at Brookline and the same pair were instrumental to the 2010 renovation at the Los Angeles Country Club, so the omens are there for another challenge from Matsuyama, who is in excellent form.

A top-five finish at the Players Championship was followed by T16 at the US Masters and T29 at the US PGA, so hopefully he will not be overawed playing alongside McIlroy and Koepka in the first two rounds.

Those pairings saw his odds drift from 28/1 to 33/1, but his SG: tee-to-green numbers are excellent and we expect him to be in the mix on Sunday.

Collin Morikawa is one of the few players to have knowledge of this course, having won all four of his singles and foursomes matches at the Walker Cup six years ago when the US ran out 19-7 winners against GB & Ireland.

Morikawa would have been one of our US Open betting tips, but we don’t have an update on the back injury which forced him to withdraw after the third round of the Memorial a couple of weeks ago, so without more info we’ll skip the two-time major winner.

Improving Clark worth a whirl

There are plenty of options at the top of the market outside the obvious top three of Scheffler, Rahm and McIlroy, such as Patrick Cantlay and Viktor Hovland, whose last three major performances read 4-7-2, finishing just two shots behind Koepka at Oak Hill.

However, we’re looking further down the markets for the next of our US Open betting tips, starting at 60/1 with the long-hitting Wyndham Clark who broke his PGA Tour duck last month by winning the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow.

Only six players on the PGA Tour hit the ball further off the tee on average than Clark and his approach play has been encouraging.

DUB 🏆 @WellsFargoGolf pic.twitter.com/4zIVN8bwWJ

— Wyndham Clark (@Wyndham_Clark) May 8, 2023

On the flip side, his major record is nothing short of abysmal, but he followed a missed cut at the US PGA Championship with 12th place at the Memorial last time out, so he has at least banished the memory of shooting 77-71 at Oak Hill.

Of players in the three-figure bracket, American Kurt Kitayama stands out at 100/1 having finished fourth at the US PGA Championship.

The former European Tour member can be a bit all-or-nothing as his three missed cuts prior to Oak Hill testify, but if he can bring the form that saw him win his first PGA Tour title at the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill just over three months ago, he certainly stands a chance.

What a place to win your first. Congrats, Kurt! #APInv 🏆 pic.twitter.com/f8eqRJ8l8r

— apinv (@APinv) March 5, 2023

The Californian native hits it long and should benefit from having plenty of room off the tee, while his SG: tee-to-green numbers are passable without being spectacular, so he looks a good each-way pick with 10 places on offer.

Finally, we hope Adam Hadwin has recovered from being grappled to the ground by an over-exuberant security guard who thought he was a fan when celebrating compatriot Nick Taylor’s success at the Canadian Open.

The rugby tackle went viral on social media, but Hadwin seems to be fit and can hopefully repeat something approaching his seventh-placed finish at last year’s US Open at 150/1.

Put it in the Louvre! pic.twitter.com/ucQUqRhsM1

— adam hadwin (@ahadwingolf) June 12, 2023

Hadwin’s closing 68 ensured he finished just outside the top 10 on Sunday and although he is one of the shorter hitters on the tour, he is at least accurate, so hopefully he can avoid the penal rough off the fairways which are the hallmarks of a US Open.

Again, last year’s US Open aside, his major appearances hardly leap off the page, but buoyed by Taylor’s victory he looks an interesting each-way prospect at a big price.

US Open Info

Where: Los Angeles Country Club (North Course), California

When: June 15-18

How to watch: Sky Sports

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All odds and markets correct as of date of publication