2020 U.S. Open matchups, placings and first-round leader bets
The world’s best golfers are at Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, New York this week for the 120th U.S. Open. The second major of 2020 features a field of 144 including the top 21 golfers in the Golfweek/Sagarin world rankings. Below, we’ll look for the best value bets in the 2020 U.S. Open betting odds and lines with tournament matchups, placings and first-round leader picks and best bets.
2020 U.S. Open: Matchup bets
Odds provided by BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated Tuesday at 2:14 p.m. ET.
Webb Simpson (-118) vs. Bryson DeChambeau
Simpson, the 2012 U.S. Open champ, is my pick to win this week. He’s still getting a good price in the head-to-head tournament matchup against DeChambeau (-118).
DeChambeau is certainly the longer hitter, but Simpson is more accurate and better around the greens. Those are the areas to focus on this week with the customary penal rough of the U.S. Open.
Hideki Matsuyama vs. Tony Finau (-112)
Finau is a slight underdog against Matsuyama (-125). Finau has played 11 events since the PGA Tour’s 2020 restart and has four top-10 finishes. Matsuyama has just one top 10 in nine events. Additionally, Finau has six top 10s in his last nine majors while Matsuyama doesn’t have a top 10 in a major since 2017 (nine events).
2020 U.S. Open: Placing bets
Dustin Johnson, top American and Jon Rahm, top European (+2500)
This is a nice parlay for the top-two outright betting favorites of the week with Johnson at +800 and Rahm +900 to win the 2020 U.S. Open. Parlaying them together to finish as the top golfers from their respective regions – JOHNSON +550 as top American and RAHM +300 as top European –brings a much better return of $250 on a $10 bet. It also leaves the door open for winners from South Africa, Australia or Asia.
Top 5: Daniel Berger (+550)
Berger won the Charles Schwab Challenge in the first week of the PGA Tour’s return to play. He had three other top-5 finishes in seven events, amid strong fields at the RBC Heritage, WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational and The Northern Trust. He also tied for 13th at the PGA Championship, and he tied for sixth at the 2018 U.S. Open.
Lowest score over 72 holes – Group D: Jason Day (+350)
Day trails only Adam Scott (+300) in both this group and the Top Australian pool. The secondary competition rises in group betting, with Justin Rose (+375), Patrick Reed (+350) and Paul Casey (+400) rounding it out, but Day’s a great value. He tied for fourth at both the PGA Championship and the Memorial Tournament, adding a T-6 at the WGC event in between.
2020 U.S. Open: First-round leader bet
Rory McIlroy (+2500)
McIlroy’s (relative) struggles since the PGA Tour resumed the 2019-20 season were well-documented, but he contributed some of that to awaiting the birth of his child. Once the baby was born, he was free to get back to golf and found some success at the Tour Championship.
He was first on Tour in Round 1 Scoring Average last season and is getting much more profitable odds than his +1600 to win the event outright.
Will Zalatoris (+10000)
The little known Zalatoris enters 2020’s second major ranked 10th in the Golfweek rankings. He hasn’t played a PGA Tour event this year, but he has a win and nine other top 10s in 16 events on the Korn Ferry Tour, where he ranked first on the season in Greens in Regulation Percentage. Look for a hot start from the 24-year-old before the pressure catches up to him.
