The first round of the US Open Golf is always one of the most anticipated rounds of golf of the entire year as we finally get to see just how tough the USGA have set the golf course up.
There has been plenty of talk about how hard Oakmont is going to play this year and we might see the first evidence of that on Thursday when all 156 players take to the tee for the opening round of the tournament. As always there are plenty of markets to keep us interested on the first day.
First Round Leader
We’ve had some success on this market in the past so we’ll have another go at it in this, the second major of the year. This is one of those tournaments with morning and afternoon starters off two different tees as opposed to The Masters and The Open where everyone go off the first tee.
That means there is every chance of a bias in the draw and the weather forecast also suggests that could be the case too. The weather is set fare for the morning starters before the weather kicks in during the afternoon where the winds come and maybe even some storms too. This course is hard enough without the wind blowing too.
With that in mind I’m going to take someone out in the morning for a punt I think and for once I’m going to stick with a top level player. That’s not to say that someone down the rankings can’t put in a good opening round but everything I read about the toughness of the course makes me think the cream could rise early.
There are some huge names on the golf course in the morning starters including Rory McIlroy, Danny Willett, Rickie Fowler and Jordan Spieth and I’m siding with the latter on Thursday.
Spieth knows all about firing out of the traps early in majors. In his last five majors he has been inside the top 10 after the first round on four occasions including leading at both Masters in that time. I don’t think Spieth will be too far away this week and with conditions set to be at their best when he’s on the course I expect him to start solidly. At 18/1 I’ll pay to see how well he begins.
First Round 3 Balls
As you would expect in a major championship all the individual groups are priced up in the first round. Back at The Masters we could pick a few groups to go at because they had past champions in them who were never going to challenge but this is more difficult because there are no huge invites this week. Everyone is in on merit. Even so there are two groups I like to go at.
I’ve already flagged Andrew Johnston up for a big week and I fancy it can start well when he goes up against Patrick Rodgers and the amateur Sam Horsfield. It would be a remarkable achievement for an amateur to go well around here so while the guy is clearly talented I will pass him over.
The form of Patrick Rodgers has to be a concern. He has missed five of his last seven cuts and you don’t want to be struggling with your game heading into this tournament especially around here. His length could be helpful but only if the other parts of his game are working and they’re not.
Johnston has shown good form on tough courses this year. He’s already won in Europe with an over par total and his last two tournaments have been very solid indeed. He has the right game for this course and if he gets going well he’s a penalty kick here.
Later in the morning last week’s champion Daniel Berger goes out with Bernd Wiesberger and Matteo Manassero in a group I fully expect the St Jude winner to come through in front. Berger is striking the ball really nicely and you don’t win around TPC Southwind if your game isn’t in bad shape. We also saw how well he is playing at The Masters.
I can’t be having Manassero here. While his qualification for this tournament shows his game is slowly coming back to where it should be he isn’t there yet and he’ll get found out around here while Wiesberger is a little too loose off the tee for my liking. Even if he isn’t Berger has him covered so I’m on him in that group.
Tips
Back J.Spieth First Round Leader (e/w) for a 1.5/10 stake at 17.00 with Paddy Power (1/5 1-7)
Back him here:
Back A.Johnston to beat P.Rodgers & S.Horsfield for a 3/10 stake at 2.50 with Unibet
Back him here:
WON – Back D.Berger to beat B.Wiesberger & M.Manassero for a 3/10 stake at 2.00 with NetBet
Back him here:
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