Dustin Johnson picked up a massive cheque when he won the FedEx Cup at East Lake two weeks ago and the laidback South Carolina man is 15/2 favourite to claim Major glory at the US Open at Winged Foot Golf Club this week.
Johnson Aiming to Improve Average Major Record
While Johnson boasts an impressive CV featuring 23 PGA Tour victories, there is no denying that his record in Majors – just one victory, in the US Open at Oakmont in 2016 – is disappointing.
The 36-year-old world number one has been in scintillating form in recent weeks but we’ve seen this before with DJ, an enigmatic character who is capable of going from the sublime to the ridiculous on a week-to-week basis.
He deserves to be favourite at Winged Foot, the notoriously brutal New York layout where Geoff Ogilvy’s five-over-par total was enough to triumph when the US Open was last staged there in 2006.
There are many others with claims. Jon Rahm is 9/1 and will surely win a Major soon but he has not always thrived in tough US Open conditions. Justin Thomas, Xander Schauffele and US PGA champion Collin Morikawa are also obvious contenders.
New Dad McIlroy Primed to Turn his Form Around
However, there’s a world-class golfer available to back at 14/1 who is in danger of being forgotten this week in the shape of Rory McIlroy.
McIlroy started the 2019-20 PGA Tour season in red-hot form, earning six top-five finishes from as many events, but his performances since the restart have been underwhelming.
But the Northern Irishman, who became a father for the first time at the end of August, has shown signs of life in recent weeks and his ability to draw the golf ball will be a big asset at Winged Foot.
McIlroy finished 12th at the BMW Championship, on another tough course at Olympia Fields, and eighth at the Tour Championship on his last two starts and his high ball flight will help him find the greens this week – important for anyone wishing to contend in New York.
Fleetwood and Reed Suited to Winged Foot Test
Like Rahm and Schauffele, Tommy Fleetwood is surely capable of winning a Major in the near future and the Southport man looks to have a fine chance of Winged Foot glory.
Fleetwood took his time to return to action post-restart, missing the cut on reappearance at the 3M Open and doing little in his subsequent starts to suggest his time was near.
However, the 29-year-old took the bold decision to play the Portugal Masters last week and was exceptional from tee to green, a poor putting performance costing him the Vilamoura title.
That will be much less of an issue this week and Fleetwood, who has two US Open top-five finishes from his last three starts in the event, could easily justify odds of 28/1.
Patrick Reed, meanwhile, loves New York golf, winning the 2016 Barclays at Bethpage Black which was designed, like Winged Foot, by AW Tillinghast.
Reed won the Masters in 2018, so knows how to win Majors, and he possesses some of the sharpest short-game skills on the PGA Tour. He’s a likely contender at 33/1.
*All odds correct at time of writing