HOLLYWOOD: The Official US Open At Los Angeles Country Club Betting Preview

Major Championship golf time!!! 

We're here in LA for golf's greatest test - the US Open. Scores are gonna be high, carnage is gonna be had, and we're gonna love every second of it. 

This year's edition brings us to Los Angeles Country Club. Hollywood baby. Right down the road from PGA Tour staple Riviera, we're going to get tons of great views of one of the country's most populated metro areas. It's the first time a major championship has been in LA since the 1995 PGA at Riv, and the first US Open since 1948 at that same course. This week gives us an opportunity to get a taste of a little something different in the LA area. 

Last year's US Open was won by Matt Fitzpatrick by a single shot over Scottie Scheffler and Will Zalatoris at Brookline. It will always be known for Fitzy's unreal shot from the fairway bunker on the 72nd hole that allowed him to easily 2-putt his way to par, and Zalatoris' 25 foot birdie attempt narrowly missed to seal the deal. Danny Rap did an AWESOME recap of every shot with Fitz on that Sunday, give that a watch.

Last year's leaderboard and recent winners of the US Open.

2022 Leaderboard

Recent Winners

The Course

We're at The North Course at LA Country Club this week, which will play as a Par 70 measuring 7,421 yards. George C. Thomas is credited with the design here, who is renowned for his California course designs including Riviera and Palos Verdes. Numerous changes were made throughout the years, but Gil Hanse's restoration in 2010 brought the North Course back towards Thomas' original design. 

It's an extremely slopey property with fairways that may seem generous on the surface, but provide plenty of uneven lies and what I would call "false fairways", where entire portions of fairway will feed balls into the rough. That good, tasty US Open rough.

It'd be easy to compare this place to a Riv or Torrey Pines, but there's actually no poa annua or kikuya on this property. It's bermuda and bentgrass greens. So with the undulations and long rough that looks wispy in some areas, it's a really interesting blend that is some parts Augusta, some parts Open Championship, and some parts traditional US Open.

We've got five par 3's and three par 5's, the first time a US Open has had those two things. The course is designed to provide a lot of of variety based on which tee boxes will be played from day to day, and that will hold especially true for the par 3's. The 15th will play as short as 92 yards on a given day, and the 7th may play as long as 290 yards.

Much like Riviera, the course throws you a bit of a bone with a very gettable downhill par 5 to kick things off, and then proceeds to kick your ass the rest of the way. That short par 3 I mentioned before is a mere breather before a finishing stretch of par 4's measuring 542, 520, and an uphill 492 yards to finish. Should provide serious fireworks down the stretch.

Note: Danny Rap wrote a bit about the course as well having played it. So get your fix there too.

Best of all, we've got a drivable par 4 in the mix as well…

Best Hole - 6th hole, Par 4 330 yards

I love this hole. It's going to be compared to the 10th at Riviera all week, and rightfully so. There are plenty of options to lay up, but a wedge approach to such a narrow green is far from a sure thing. A cavernous bunker protects the front and there's another bunker above the green that will catch tee shots smashed long. The tee shot is blind over those oak trees on the corner, and you'll have to catch the right kick if you're going to give it a go and hold the green. The "go for it" vs. lay up strategy will likely depend on the pin location, but I think most guys are going to give it a go all 4 days and live with the consequences. That'll be a blast. A true risk-reward hole, which is George C. Thomas' specialty.

The Coverage

The US Open is NBC's baby. And we get some primetime golf. Love a west coast US Open.

Format

This is golf's largest field at 156 players. So they'll be off early and playing well into the early evening. Cut is top 60 and ties, and the playoff is now a 2-hole aggregate and not the 18-hole playoff on Monday that was so closely associated with the US Open for so many years. Boo.

The Weather

The Trophy

Warren Little. Getty Images.

It's glorious. This is the one. This is the one ya dream about. Legendary characters from Hogan to Nicklaus to Palmer to Woods hoisted this thing. So many trophies want to be this one but there's only one. Plus the gold medal to go with it. Easy. 10/10. 

The Board

Scottie Scheffler is the firm favorite at +600 at the Barstool Sportsbook. You're going to hear a lot this week about how his tee-to-green game has been at an elite level this year, but his putter has utterly failed him.

Surprising, given he was so steady with the flatstick last year. Koepka is up there at +850 given his re-discovered god status at majors. Rahm won at Riv earlier this year and quite simply, he's Jon fucking Rahm. Hovland is hot given his win at Jack's place and strong performance at the PGA. Rory seems to be trending back up after finding himself at the mix last week in Canada. Cantlay, Schauffele, and Homa have the local storyline. There's a lot to like here.

Ultimately, I really do believe Scottie Scheffler comes away with this thing. I think he's proven already how well he handles uneven lies like at Augusta and putters run hot and cold each week. He's tinkering with weights on his Scotty Cameron so he's definitely still in search mode, but the guy could find it at any point and turn this thing into a romp. Plus there's reason to believe that since the PGA got moved to May, strong performance in that tournament foreshadows a win at the US Open. Call it chalky if you want, but it's part of my card.

If you're going to put a gun to my head and go a different direction, I'm also on Xander Schauffele +1800. He's just so steady and has the all-around game that should lead to US Open success. There's no one part of his game that you point to and say "buuuuuut if that rears its ugly head" with him. DataGolf has him as the 4th most likely to win this tournament, which is out of whack with him being 7th on the board. Him and Cantlay are the two guys where I think a major win is imminent and X is the better value, but you can't go wrong with either.

Other Plays

Patrick Cantlay +1400 To Win - Like I said, I like the value with X better but Cantlay could just as easily be the guy.

Tony Finau +3500 To Win - Not enough buzz about Tony this week. Plays well at Riv regularly. Good value.

Dustin Johnson +4000 To Win - Still not ready to write DJ off at prices like these.

Cameron Young To Win +5000/Top 10 +400 - Mostly a FOMO pick on the outright ticket, but he's also boom or bust in majors. He's missed the cut in half his majors since turning pro, and Top 10'd in the other half.

Joaquin Niemann To Win +9000/Top 10 +600 - Won at Riv a couple years ago, somewhat of an unknown on the LIV side. For yet another major, I think there's value to be had on LIV guys.

Kurt Kitayama +15000 To Win/Top 10 +1200 - My only bomb this week. Strong showing at the PGA, won at Bay Hill which is damn near as close to a US Open test as we see on Tour every year.

Hole In One In Tournament -162/Hole In One In Round 1 +400 - Five Par 3's? One of them a short chippy with 156 players in the field? Sign me up. Round 3 price is +500 and Round 4 price is +800, I'd probably jump on that +800 price now.

That's what I got. Gonna be a helluva week. 

Enjoy the US Open at Los Angeles Country Club.