With the same major question everyone in the golf world asks, the 120th US Open is fast approaching: Who are you choosing to win on the winged foot? With a terrific field featuring some of the best golfers in the world, the first major of the 2020-21 season should be an epic ride from the first round on Thursday.
There are plenty of stories this week. Dustin Johnson and John Reham are looking to continue their incredible game. Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson in particular are hoping to enter the fountain of youth as Woods tries to win the course he is playing and Lefty made efforts towards Major alone again. We have Justin Thomas, Rory McClroy and other star golfers seeking to make the first claim in a handful of six jerseys that we will see before the end of the season.
So what’s going to happen in New York after this week? Let’s take a look at the full set of predictions and selections from our CBS sports experts. Check out the full set of differences by William Hill Sportsbook with the Tea Times in Thursday’s first round.
2020 U.S. Open expert selection, predictions
Kyle Porter, golf writer
Winner – John Raheem (10-1): The two toughest golf tournaments of 2020 have been won by both Rahm. He won the Memorial Tournament at Moorefield Village and the BMW Championships at Olympia Fields, both impressively against the weighted field. Those tournaments Serves as a faceless for the open, and Rahm has a short game of staying up even though he doesn’t have the best-to-green package at Winged Foot.
Sleeper – Adam Scott (50-1): Scotty has a world class short game and the iron game Winged Foot is in demand. He hasn’t played as much as most other stars in the field, but a month ago TPC. Her top 25 finishes were impressive at Harding Park, although it was her first tournament in five months. He won his last six U.S. titles. Ranked in the top 20 in four of the openings.
Top 10 Lockers – Dustin Johnson: I think it will fall back a bit from the heater it was on, but the heater has been so hot that even if it falls back it still falls in the top 10 somewhere. His last six U.S. victories, including that win in Oakmont in 2016. Ranked in the top five in four of the openings.
Star who certainly can’t win – Bryson de Combe: His style just won’t work this week. He will do a lot of work in the next 10-15 years, and he will be able to win many tournaments. But his short game doesn’t have to be that, and he won’t be able to dissect Winged Foot like the other courses on the PGA Tour.
Top 5 in order: John Rehm, Colin Morikawa, Adam Scott, Dustin Johnson, Patrick Reed
Surprising forecast: Tiger Woods will miss the cut. Perhaps this is not surprising to some who are following closely, but it will be to a wider audience that will only enter the main championship. His game is not sharp and there is no need to compete in the US Open. It won’t make the cut too low, but it will stay on the line all week and eventually fall off its wrong side on Friday evening.
Lowest round: 67 (-3)
Winner Score: 285 (+5)
Winner’s Sunday score: 72 (+2)
Chip Patterson, author
Winner – John Raheem (10-1): For most of the PGA tour season after the restart, professional golf was a scoring bonanza. Anyone who could warm up and roll out most of the birdies would argue for a win, and then on Sunday, the absence of fans helped relieve some of the pressure coming from the afternoon of that time. The combination of course design and tournament-week maintenance has resulted in two tournaments: the ground and the BMW Championship. Rahm won both of those events as he gained world-class form when he faced a course demanding all the shots that set him apart from the rest. His well-rounded play and consistent maturity as a star at this stage set him perfectly to win his first major championship and keep this hot streak going in the fall.
Sleeper – Matthew Fitzp rick Trick (60-1): Using the same system here, FitzPrick finished third at the Trick Memorial and 6th at the BMW Championships, making him the only other player (along with Rahm) to make the top 10 in both events. You’re also betting on some championship history because it’s not as dangerous for some young stars as the USGA Fitzpack to Trick. He spent the fifth half of his career in the U.S. Starting at the Open, she was the lowest amateur of 2014 and finished 12th on Shinikok Hills in 2011 and Pebble Beach in 2019.
Top 10 Lockers – Gender Scaffolding: There are no holes in his game. Schaufel can’t quite maintain the distance of the bombers, doesn’t dial so much that he is pulled off the field on an approach shot and is known to struggle with his putter from time to time, however, the top 10 in the 26-year-stroke is T-to-Green. , Got the top 10 total in the top 10 strokes and got seven top-10 finishes in the season. And ending this tour as a runner-up in the championship, tied for 10th at the PGA Championship and 6th at the WGC in Memphis, the big stage is in the top 10. Skacha Fell succeeds in the biggest stages of the game because it can hang there even when it doesn’t have a fastball ball, and this kind of resilience will be a key to the winked foot.
Star who certainly can’t win – Justin Thomas: The TV that I like in more events where you are going to be able to advance in the race of birdies and not only that is not in the US Open theory, but that is certainly not the case on the winged foot. His best US Open finish was at 201 in Erin Hills when a record 31 players came to the T9 after a rollercoaster weekend with a white-hot 63 on Saturday and then a 75-course revision on Sunday. He’s playing so well that he can definitely finish in the top 10, but he’s not fit to be the winner.
Top 5 in order: John Rahm, Hideki Matsuama, Patrick Cantley, Rory McLeroy, Dustin Johnson
Surprising forecast: Phil Mickelson flirts with the lead on Thursday. He dominated the start of his first Champions Tour and after spending a whole week on his 2006 square, let’s put a lot of faith in him to win and – oh yes – the annual US Open and Grand Slam talking point. This is his first US Open since Turning was 0 years old, and I think he comes out with stellar content, sending golf worlds into a frenzy. It might fade the background and even miss the cut, but I think we get some Thursday thrills from Phil.
Lowest round: 66 (-4)
Winning score: 278 (-2)
Winner’s Sunday score: 71 (+1)
Who will win the US Open, and what long shots will amaze the golfing world? From the model who nailed the six golf majors, visit Sportsline to see this projected leaderboard (Including Gary Woodland’s win last year) and re and start. There are more than 8,000.
Kyle Boone, author
Winner – Colin Morikawa (18-1): That’s right, back-to-back measures for rookie. He’s a monster with his senses and always plays with control, which will be crucial to success for sure in a week full of carnage in winged legs. If he can always shape with a sauce like his and get like the greens, he will be in the mix to win his second big championship since taking the PGA Championship last month.
Sleeper – Phil Mickelson (80-1): At some point, Karma has to take Phil’s side, right? He has finished second or T20I at the US Open on six different occasions during his career, some of which are close-but-not-too-annoying. It seems that the world has at least one debt – and there is no one better than this. He just turned 50 and finally came some bright moments, including a win on the Senior Tour and a T2 finish at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational.
Top 10 Lockers – Dustin Johnson: In general, I have less faith in DJs than most golf stars, but I can’t get over it this week. He’s starting with a Tour Championship win and a FedEx Cup playoff win, and has finished T2 or better in four consecutive trips he has received from PGA in the past month. This is the best and most consistent DJ we’ve ever seen and I expect it to continue with the top-10 finishes this week.
Star who certainly can’t win – Rory McLeroy: In the historic historical fashion in 2011, U.S. Since winning the Open, Rory has won eight U.S. titles over the years. Unable to regain the magic with four missed cuts in the open outing. McLeroy has played well in his last two outings, but it’s hard to ignore how he was a pedestrian in the seven after the epidemic, six of which he finished just outside the top 30.
Top 5 in order: Colin Morikawa, Dustin Johnson, Justin Thomas, John Rahm, Xander Schaufel
Surprising forecast: Rahm has the No. 1 spot on the leaderboard at the conclusion of at least two rounds. He’s an artist away from tees and has a way of moving forward on this occasion when the course becomes difficult, which comes to his party this week.
Lowest round: 67 (-3)
Winning score: 276 (-4)
Winner’s Sunday score: 68 (-2)
Adam Silverstein, Deputy Managing Editor
Winner – Justin Thomas (14-1): After a tremendous effort on the majors in 2017-18, JT has not had much success in the last four events, including its top 10 matches and missed misses in its last four. Despite that, he’s been playing pretty well in every phase of his game except Putter. He’s going to argue on a fairly winged foot. The question is whether he can push people of the past like DJ and Reham. I’m not sure, but at 14-1, I’ll take one of the best players in the world.
Sleeper – Ricky Fowler (55-1): Look, I got it. Fowler always comes close but never gets the job done. He is 11 in the top 10 in the last nine years and two wickets faster in 2019 alone. He has played well lately but has fallen apart over the weekend. Here’s the thing. He’s going to spend the first two days at Winged Foot, surrounded by fellow former Pox as a two-legged, Oklahoma State trio, with Victor Howland and Matthew Wolf pushing each other. All three are among the top 50 golfers in the world. Do you know? Wolf (60-1) is also a very long shot. I prefer one of these three individuals to be in the top 10 entering the weekend, arguing them for the full US Open.
Top 10 Lockers – Dustin Johnson (17/2): The DJ is not something I would normally consider a lock for anything, but given the way he is playing, it would be foolish to think that he would not sue for the US Open. You could also do a Rahm slot here. My usual “L” C in this space is McIlroy, the king of the backdoor top 10, but he’s not at the top of his game right now.
Star who certainly can’t win – Tiger Woods: I’m sure Tiger has more majors to win, but he won’t take winged feet. U.S. Woods has not finished better at the Open since 2010 than the T21. It’s been a decade. Outside of his Masters win, which has nothing to do with a thumbs up in anyone’s nose, he hasn’t finished better than T21 in his last four majors, missing two cuts. He’s the biggest star out there, and he’s definitely not going to win – this week.
Top 5 in order: Justin Thomas, Webb Simpson, John Reham, Patrick Cantley, Dustin Johnson
Surprising forecast: Phil Mickelson is arguing for a moving day. Lefty knows what it takes to win Winged Foot (despite not doing so in 2006) and he has a lot of internal and external motivation to exorcise his monsters and the U.S. He’s not going to do that. But, can he play well and be a handful of strokes from the lead in the first two rounds? You bet.
Lowest round: 67 (-3)
Winner Score: 282 (+2)
Winner’s Sunday score: 70 (e)
