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This year’s edition of the U.S. Open centers on Dustin Johnson, and for good reason.
The tournament begins Thursday at Erin Hills in Hartford, Wisconsin, and it will be interesting to see if Johnson can recover the form he had going into the Masters. It was at that tournament that he suffered a fluke back injury falling down some stairs in a home he was renting on the eve of the tournament, which forced him to withdraw.
After tying for second in his first tournament once healthy, he has subsequently tied for 12th, tied for 13th and missed the cut. Johnson won three consecutive tournaments going into the Masters, so it is strange to see his play falter in recent weeks.
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But that is golf, particularly at the elite level, where the margin of effectiveness is so small due to the talent. Whereas Johnson looked unbeatable in March, he now looks vulnerable.
Suffice to say if he is able to pull off a win at the U.S. Open, it will be memorable. It was last year at the same tournament where Johnson not only won but dealt with the mental challenge of playing the final seven holes knowing he might be assessed a one-stroke penalty because his ball had moved incrementally on the fifth green as he prepared to putt. He would eventually win by three shots, assessed a one-stroke penalty for what happened on the fifth hole but which turned out to be a non-factor.
The win clearly helped Johnson erase the awful memories of the 2015 U.S. Open in which he three-putted on the final hole to hand what appeared to be a sure victory to Jordan Spieth.
So once again that makes Johnson the center of attention going into the U.S. Open. He is projected as the favorite among the wagering sites at 7.50-1.
Spieth is tied with Rory McIlroy in the odds at 12-1. I can see Spieth possibly winning – he has one win, a second and two thirds in 14 events this year – and won the event two years ago. I don’t like McIlroy’s chances at all. He is not having a good year, which has largely been ignored for the most part. But here’s something interesting about McIlroy going into this year’s U.S. Open: He will play with a new flat stick – the TaylorMade red-colored version of the Spider Tour putter. He had previously been using an Odyssey ProType putter. Could it change his fortunes? It couldn’t be any worse than what has been happening this year for McIlroy.
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My pick to win is Justin Thomas. He has three wins in 15 events this year, has made the cut 12 times, has seven top-10 finishes, including two in the top-five in the last three tournaments. He is second in the FedEx rankings and is due to take his game to the next level. He has never been remotely close in any of the Majors to date, but I’m thinking this could be the one. If you like him, he is great value at 38-1.
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My sentimental pick to win is Jason Day, who is a 14-1 proposition. For all he has gone through this year dealing with his mother’s battle with cancer and the effect it had on him emotionally, it has been a tough season for the Australian. He came into this year ranked number one in the world, but no one really knew the full effect of what he had been dealing with until he announced it to the world a few months ago. His mother is winning her battle with cancer, so it would be nice to see Day break though with an emotional victory. He placed second in his second-last tournament, so maybe this will be his chance to win a victory that will probably mean more to him than any single one in the past.
It is always great so see stories of triumph that deal with an emotional quality.
Last year was an anomaly in the Majors with four different players claiming wins. Frankly, that’s more appealing than seeing one player run away with the majority of the Majors.
Be sure to let us know who you think will take the trophy at Erin hills in the comments section below!
