The third major of 2025 is as highly anticipated as any other with the famed Oakmont Country Club hosting this year’s US Open. Oakmont is revered as the quintessential US Open course, arguably the sternest test in professional golf. No venue has hosted the US Open more with the Pennsylvania venue staging its first US Open in 1927 with its 10th to be staged 98 years later. Tommy Armour won the inaugural staging at Oakmont with the likes of Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus, Johnny Miller and Dustin Johnson all winning at the esteem property. PGA Championship winner Scottie Scheffler, Masters champion Rory McIlroy and defending US Open champion Bryson DeChambeau dominate betting.
Key Stats/Skill Set Required
- Driving Distance
- Bogey Avoidance
- Total Driving
- Strokes Gained: Off The Tee
- All-Around
- GIR
- Strokes Gained: Tee To Green
- Scrambling
Designed by Henry Fownes 122 years ago, Oakmont Country Club is the preeminent US Open venue, a place that will host its 10th US Open this week and has crowned champions of the quality of Hogan, Nicklaus and Miller. It has hosted a US Open every decade since the 1940s and already has three future US Open tournaments locked in. As with all US Opens, distance is important but there can be no waywardness as Oakmont is renowned for its deep, treacherous, brutal rough as well as its heavy bunkering that includes its fabled church pew bunkers that are virtually a proxy for a one-stroke penalty. The greens are extraordinarily fast and despite their large size, require precise shots to pins. This is about as good a course as one could hope to see a US Open on.
Key Correlation Courses/Tournaments
- Augusta National
- Colonial Country Club
- LA Country Club
- The Country Club, Brookline
- Southern Hills Country Club
The best value play at Oakmont this week is 2022 US Open champion Jon Rahm. The Spaniard could not be better suited. He is one of just two golfers in the field to check all five profile boxes of recent US Open winners – Top 32 in Data Golf, prior US Open Top 10, five to eight prior US Opens, a major Top 10 this year and a Top 12 in his last two starts. He ranks 1st in GIR and Bogey Avoidance on LIV while ranking 2nd in Strokes Gained: Off The Tee, 7th in Scrambling and 8th in Driving Distance. Rahm’s last five US Opens have netted a win, three more Top 12 finishes and a worst effort of T-23. Outstanding bet.
Chilean star Joaquin Niemann comes into this off his remarkable fourth win on the LIV circuit this season, coming from four strokes back entering the final round to win in Virginia. Niemann finished T-8 at the PGA Championship, his best finish in a major in what seemed like a breakthrough result. On the LIV circuit he ranks Top 4 in Driving Distance, Strokes Gained: Off The Tee, Bogey Avoidance and GIR while he ranks 10th in Scrambling. He profiles tremendously and is in for a big showing at Oakmont.
There is arguably no more in-form golfer on the planet right now not named Scottie Scheffler than Sepp Straka, The Austrian has won twice this year including winning the Truist Championship three starts ago. He comes into this off a 3rd in The Memorial. He leads the Tour in GIR while he ranks 3rd in All-Around, 4th in Strokes Gained: Tee-To-Green and 6th in Bogey Avoidance. The only concern he has been his poor performances in both majors this year. He is playing too well to leave out though.
Canadian Corey Conners does not win out of turn but his consistency and profile put him right in the mix this week at Oakmont. Conners ranks Top 32 in Data Golf’s World Rankings, he has finished Top 10 in a prior US Open and in a major this year and is playing between his 5th and 8th US Open, a typical sweet spot for recent winners. He ranks 10th in Strokes Gained: Off The Tee and 13th in GIR. He just does not have bad tournaments and has finished Top 20 in both majors this year.
You won’t find many better 500-1 shots than Chris Gotterup, who can be bet to win and finish Top 10/20/40 and to make the cut. The 25yo has just one win on the PGA Tour, winning the 2024 Myrtle Beach Classic, while in his only US Open back in 2022 he did make the cut, finishing T-43. He ranks 11th in Driving Distance while he is Top 10 in Bogey Avoidance, GIR and Scrambling. There are some great betting options with him.
Six Australians will take part in this week’s US Open with betting close among the top five. Min Woo Lee looks the pick though due to his length. He ranks 8th on the Tour in Driving Distance and the US Open setups suit with Top 27 finishes in all three of his starts.
Seven Asians tee it up at Oakmont this week with Hideki Matsuyama the favourite but Si Woo Kim is the clear value. He ranks Top 15 in All-Around and Strokes Gained: Tee To Green. He has made the cut at the last two US Opens. Off a T-8 at the PGA Championship, he is clearly flying.