U.S. Open Picks and Predictions: Look for Viktor Hovland and Adam Scott to Find Success
U.S. Open Picks and Predictions: Look for Viktor Hovland and Adam Scott to Find Success
This ain't no disco, and it ain't no country club either; this is LA…..CC. The 123rd U.S. Open is headed back to the West Coast for what should be an extremely exciting and entertaining major. For the first time in its storied 126-year history, Los Angeles Country Club is hosting a major championship and is unveiling itself to the public.
One of the most exclusive country clubs in the entire world, Los Angeles Country Club is a bit of a mystery to the world. As stated before, no professional tournament has been held at LACC, and the only glimpse into how the world's best will play this course is the 2017 Walker Cup.
U.S. Open Start Time and Where to Watch
- Dates: June 15 - June 18, 2023
- Where: Los Angeles Country Club - Los Angeles, CA
- Where to Watch: Golf Channel, NBC, Peacock
U.S. OPEN Prediction
As for the event itself, the premier major in the United States, known for its extremely difficult conditions and storied winners, the U.S. Open always seems to deliver. With the event solidifying itself as the best field with the best courses and elite sets ups, there is no reason to think this major won't be spectacular this year.
With all of the recent news in golf, it will be a pleasure to see all of the world’s best tee it up in the same tournament. It doesn't matter what tour you play on; the best golfers in the world will convene on the LACC this week. Given how the PGA went, it should surprise nobody to see golfers from the LIV Tour contend and compete to win.
We are seeing a little bit of a different odds board than what we saw at Oak Hill. We have seen Brooks Koepka win the last major and vault his way up to the third favorite. We also saw PGA Championship runner-up Viktor Hovland win the Memorial and solidify himself as a force to be reckoned with in majors. For the full odds board, to see all of the movement, be sure to check out the OddsChecker grid.
Golf bettors are in a tough predicament this week with the course at hand. Zero course history to lean on, and to make matters even worse, LACC is one of the most unique golf courses in the world. This George Thomas design is situated on one of the most expensive pieces of land in the country. Right off Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills, with 30 Million dollar houses surrounding the property, we are in for a real treat this week.
I would not classify LACC as a typical U.S. Open Course, and we are used to seeing extremely long golf courses with tight fairways and extremely thick rough. Given these recent courses and setups, it is no surprise that some of the best drivers of the ball in the world have won. Jon Rahm, Brooks Koepka, Bryson Dechambeau, Gary Woodland, and Matt Fitzpatrick are all elite drivers with above-average distance.
However, LACC is truly one of a kind. A 7,300-yard par 70 that features extremely wide fairways, a wide variety of holes, heavy bunkering through, and natural land undulations throughout. A word you are very likely to hear this week is Barrancas as this river gorge is heavily featured on the front nine of the golf course.
One look at the scorecard and some holes are certainly going to stand out to the naked eye. Most notably, the par 3 seventh and 11th, which measure 284 and 290 yards, respectively. The course also features five par 4s that measure over 480 yards. With a short “drivable” par 4, a reachable par 5 opener, and some shorter par 4s mixed in, there will certainly be scoring holes available to the best golfers in the world. There is little doubt in my mind we see a single-digit under-par winner this week.
U.S. OPEN Picks
Viktor Hovland +1800 is currently the best odds. Click here to see which sportsbook has the best odds for this pick
You don't need me to tell you this, but golfers who perform well in majors usually win. Given this extremely straightforward approach, I am more than willing to back Viktor Hovland at 18/1 to win the U.S. Open this week.
He has absolutely elevated his game in majors over the past year. Runner up at the PGA, seventh at The Masters, and fourth at the Open Championship, these extremely impressive results are not a surprise for one of the best ball strikers in the world.
Hovland is off his first big U.S. win at the Memorial just two weeks ago. Hovland won in a playoff at -7 on a long, difficult course with lightning-fast bent grass greens. Bettors have this weird thing where they believe golfers can't win in back-to-back starts. If Denny makes a par on 18, Hovland is the greatest pick in the world this week. Now the thought is he can't win again. I am not buying into this at all.
As stated before, golfers that play well in majors usually win them. There is a pretty solid trend going on with U.S. Open winners. Since the PGA was moved to May, these are the results of the U.S. Open winner in the previous major. T8, T4, T8, T5. I am very inclined to think the winner of this event had a strong showing at the PGA.
In terms of a course fit, I believe Hovland has all the tools needed to succeed here. Hovland ranks sixth in Approach, eighth in OTT, first in SG: Putting on Bentgrass greens, fifth in Prox from 175-200, and sixth in Prox 200+. With the wide fairways, everyone will be hitting the fairways, and iron play and putting will be extremely important. I feel more than comfortable with the best-bent putter and a top-five iron player in the field.
If anything, I feel better about Hovland after winning his last start. The monkey is off his back, and it's time for him to win his first major. A common trend in the U.S. Open winners recently is that 11 of the past 14 were first-time major champions.
Adam Scott +9000 is currently the best odds. Click here to see which sportsbook has the best odds for this pick
One of the best benefits of OddsChecker is being able to compare odds from different books, which is so important in golf betting. This price on Adam Scott is just flat-out wrong on Caesars. Scott is listed as low at +5000 at some sportsbook, the true price is somewhere in between, but I love him at +9000.
The 2013 Masters Champion is solidifying himself as one of the most consistent golfers on the PGA Tour. Scott has not missed a cut since the 2022 PGA Championship, well over a year ago. Since then, he has racked up seven top 15 finishes, which include three top 5s. He absolutely has the potential to pop at a moment's notice.
Scott finished ninth at the Memorial in his last outing, gaining a staggering 4.3 strokes OTT and 5.9 Putting. It is promising to note that these were similar lightning-fast bent grass greens.
Adam is also peaking at the right time, in my opinion, finishing fifth at Wells Fargo, gaining 4.5 on approach and 5.3 on the greens. He then backed it up with an eighth at Byron Nelson. Scott, unfortunately, has only been popping in two major categories at a time. I think this is the week he puts together a great ball-striking week with his newly found hot putter.
Scott has been unbelievable at Rivera Country Club with a win and a runner-up, two top 10s at The Farmers, seventh at the U.S. Open at Pebble in 2019, and top 25 at the PGA in 2020 at Harding Park. I feel pretty good about his ability to compete in California. This is the week for Scott’s second major.
Golf Odds
Article Author
Brian Kirschner is the host of the Tap in Birdie Podcast and is a golf betting content creator from Long Island. Every week Brian has prominent guests in the industry come on his podcast and break down the upcoming PGA Tour event from a betting/DFS perspective. Brian loves nothing more than sweating first round leader and outrights bets.