2025 U.S. Open First Round Leader Picks: Targeting Collin Morikawa, Cameron Young in Opening Round at Oakmont
The 2025 U.S. Open will get underway from Oakmont Country Club on Thursday morning, but the real question is who will start hot in the first round? Bettors love taking action on the first day of a major, so who should you target? Matt MacKay is looking at Collin Morikawa and a few other longshot offerings for the U.S. Open first round leader.
Matt MacKay
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2025 U.S. Open First Round Leader Picks: Targeting Collin Morikawa, Cameron Young in Opening Round at Oakmont
The 2025 U.S. Open will be hosted at Oakmont Country Club in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania this week. It's the site for the third major of the PGA Tour season, playing as a difficult par 70 that will likely make birdies a premium.
There's dozens of PGA Tour betting markets to explore at Oakmont this week. The First Round Leader prop is a fun way to get early action with long odds, especially at a major where the course is expected to play over par.
PGA handicapper Matt MacKay has four golfers worth targeting in the First Round Leader betting market. Follow Matt's X account for more PGA betting analysis and free picks throughout the 2025 PGA Tour season.
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2025 U.S. Open First Round Odds
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2025 U.S. OPEN DATE, TIME, AND WHERE TO WATCH
- Date: Thursday, June 12 - Sunday, June 15, 2025
- Time: 6:00 AM - 8:00 PM ET
- How to Watch: USA, Peacock, NBC, USGA App, USOpen.com, DirecTV, YouTube TV
2025 U.S. Open First Round Leader
Collin Morikawa (+3500) Click here to see which sportsbook has the best U.S. Open Odds
Since losing the Arnold Palmer Invitational to Russell Henley on March 9th, Collin Morikawa's game has lacked consistency. He's still an elite ball-striker, especially off-the-tee, which should present clean lies for him to build an early lead.
Morikawa ranks fifth SG: Tee-to-Green in 2025. He's also 17th in Round 1 Scoring Average (69.00), with recent Round 1 scores that include 63 and 67.
Morikawa is a great golfer to invest in for a First Round Leader prop at 35-1 odds.
Akshay Bhatia (+8000) Click here to see which sportsbook has the best U.S. Open Odds
Akshay Bhatia is no stranger to playing well in the First Round. The 23-year-old has gone 67 or lower on Thursday in five of 15 PGA Tour events this season.
Bhatia ranks 72nd SG: Tee-to-Green and 43rd in Round 1 scoring average in 2025. He's 21st SG: Approach, 12th SG: Putting, 22nd proximity and fifth in birdie average. Also carries an accurate driver (56th) and hits 66.5 percent of greens in regulation.
The lefty has a lot of talent to lean on in his bag. His putting and accuracy tee-to-green makes Bhatia one of several golfers worth backing in the 80-1 First Round Leader price range.
Ryan Fox (+8000) Click here to see which sportsbook has the best U.S. Open Odds
Coming off of a clutch playoff win over Sam Burns at the RBC Canadian Open, Ryan Fox should carry plenty of confidence into Round 1 at Oakmont. He's logged two outright wins since May 11th, both in high-stake playoff scenarios, recording his first victory at the Myrtle Beach Classic a month ago.
Prior to May, Fox was winless on the PGA Tour. Now, he's got two under his belt and will likely utilize his power off-the-tee and on approach to avoid bogeys in Round 1.
Ranked 14th proximity, 10th on approach shots from 200+ yards, 12th in putting average, 28th on par 4s and 15th in birdie average. Fox is also 17th SG: Approach and second behind only Scottie Scheffler in bounce back percentage.
Fox has gone 66-65-67-72-66 in Round 1 during his previous five PGA Tour events. He's worth backing at 80-1 in the First Round Leader betting market during his Oakmont debut.
Cameron Young (+8000) Click here to see which sportsbook has the best U.S. Open Odds
Cameron Young made a dramatic bid into the U.S. Open after winning qualifiers. After a terrible start to the PGA Tour season, the 28-year-old has a pair of top 10 finishes in two of the previous four events played.
A missed cut at The Masters and a T47 at the PGA Championship don't exactly point towards a strong showing at the U.S. Open. However, Young ranks 22nd in driving distance, 16th SG: Putting and 38th in birdie average.
Playing a course like Oakmont may actually be a positive for Young. He's a bomber off-the-tee who also has improved his putting quite a bit in recent weeks.
Let's wrap up the First Round Leader props with another 80-1 wager on Young to leverage his driver and putter enough to rise to the top of the leaderboard on Thursday.
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