US Open Picks, Bets, Course Preview
EARLY QUICK PICKS
Bryson +1100
Keegan +7000 (8 Places)
Straka +8000
Gerard +20000 (8 Places)
FIRST ROUND LEADER
Gerard +11000 (5 Places)
Bridgeman +14000 (5 Places)
Pavon +16000 (5 Places)
2025 US OPEN
Field: 156 Players
Cut: Top 60 and Ties after 36 Holes
First Tee: June 12, 2025
Defending Champion: Bryson DeChambeau
In the event of a tie after 72 holes, a two-hole aggregate playoff will take place following the completion of Sunday’s final round.
The top 10 finishers (and ties) are exempt into the following year’s U.S. Open. The top four finishers (and ties) are invited to the following year’s Masters Tournament.
Only six players have won the Masters and U.S. Open titles in the same year: Craig Wood (1941), Ben Hogan (1951, 1953), Arnold Palmer (1960), Jack Nicklaus (1972), Tiger Woods (2002) and Jordan Spieth (2015).
This is the 125th U.S. Open Championship. The U.S. Open, which was first played in 1895, was not contested for two years (1917-1918) during World War I and for four years (1942-1945) during World War II. The youngest winner of the U.S. Open is 19-year-old John McDermott, who won in 1911; he is among nine players age 21 or younger who have won the U.S. Open. The oldest winner is Hale Irwin, who was 45 and playing on a special exemption when he won his third U.S. Open title in 1990. Irwin also won in 1974 and 1979.
HOT LINKS
US Open Golf Picks, Bets, One & Done, MOST CURSED | Canadian Open & PME LIVE RECAP
US Open Golf Picks, Research, Sleepers, Course Preview, Stat Rankings
US Open Golf Preview with Andrew Novak: Oakmont, Winning, Ryder Cup & NFL Win Totals
KEY STATS
Driving Distance
SG: Approach
Driving Accuracy
Par 4s 450-500 Yards
Bogey Avoidance
Mayo’s Key Stats powered by FantasyNational.com
Same stat model but with the filter “rounds difficult relative to par” over the last 36 rounds.
UNDERDOG
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COURSE
Oakmont CC
Par: 70
Yardage: 7,372
Greens: Poa
Avg. Green Size: 8,500 sq. Ft.
Bunkers: 168
Water Hazards: Zero
Average Fairway Widths: 28 yards
HOLE-BY-HOLE PLAYOFF FOR OAKMONT CC
No club in America has hosted more U.S. Open Championships than Oakmont. This will be the club's 10th.
2023 renovation included 24,000 sq. ft. of green expansions, 330,000 sq. ft. of bunker renovations, 2 acres of fairway expansion and 250 years of additional tees.
Oakmont's famed Church Pew bunker lies between the third and fourth fairways. It is 100 yards long and 40 yards wide, and features 12 grass-covered traversing ridges that resemble church pews.
The 2025 U.S. Open will be the 95th USGA championship held in Pennsylvania, the most of any state.
It was announced in August 2021 that Oakmont would be a U.S. Open anchor site, and also host the championship in 2034, 2042 and 2049.
2021 US Am was at Oakmont
Jacob Bridgeman made the round of 16.
Joe Highsmith and Ryan Gerard made round of 32
Bridgeman was T7 after stroke play -4
Highsmith was T9 after stroke play -3
Course
Par 3's (4): Average distance - 227 yards
- The longest Par 3 (289 yards, #8) is only 23 yards shorter than the Par 4 #17
- Dustin Johnson (2016): Par'd his final seven Par 3's of the week
Par 4's (12): Average distance - 436 yards
- Both 9's start (488 yards and 461 yards) and end with a long Par 4 (472 and 502 )
- Dustin Johnson (2016): Played the front-9 Par 4's at even par for the week
Par 5's (2): Average distance - 622 yards
- Both Par 5's are on the front half of each respective nine -- this tournament isn't getting a dramatic Par 5 score late, something to consider for live bettors on Sunday.
- Dustin Johnson (2016): 7 par's and a Saturday birdie on his Par 5 card during the win
Additional Course Notes
The turn could be a leverage spot over the weekend -- Holes 9 and 10 have a cumulative double-or-worse rate that is greater than their collective under-par rate.
Holes 13-14-17 are three of the four most birdied holes on the course, all over 16% ... if you like the form of a chaser, we could see a streak put together and a lead get into the clubhouse (especially if there are weather concerns).
In 2016, the DraftKings scoring didn't match super cleanly with finishing position. Jason Day and Zach Johnson both tied for 8th on the final leaderboard, but Day scored 21.7% more DK points.
DFS Streak
The course shows its teeth at the end of both 9's, making this strategy useless for the week. In order, the five most difficult holes are 1-9-18-10-15-8. Where exactly are you building momentum?
There are streak opportunities in the middle of both sides, but you're chasing your tail if you're trying to build a DFS lineup based on starting hole.
Past Winners
2024: Bryson DeChambeau (-6)
2023: Wyndham Clark (-10)
2022: Matt Fitzpatrick (-6)
2021: Jon Rahm (-6)
2020: Bryson DeChambeau (-6)
2019: Gary Woodland (-13)
2018: Brooks Koepka (+1)
2017: Brooks Koepka (-16)
2016 (Oakmont CC): Dustin Johnson (-4)
Historic US Open Winner Notes
Last international winner: Matt Fitzpatrick, England, 2022
Last to defend title successfully: Brooks Koepka, 2018
Last winner to win the U.S. Open on first attempt: Francis Ouimet, 1913
Last winner to win the U.S. Open on second attempt: Webb Simpson, T14 in 2011, winner in 2012
Last start-to-finish winner (no ties): Martin Kaymer, 2014
Last winner to win money title in same year: Jon Rahm, 2021
Last winner to birdie the 72nd hole: Jon Rahm, 2021
Last winner to birdie the 72nd hole to force a playoff: Tiger Woods, 2008
Last winner to birdie the 72nd hole to win by one stroke: Jon Rahm, 2021
Last to win with a round of 76: Angel Cabrera, in third round, 2007
Last to win with a round of 75: Brooks Koepka, in first round, 2018
Last to win after being in final qualifying: Lucas Glover, 2009
Last to win after being in local and final qualifying: Orville Moody, 1969
Last winner between age 20-29: Wyndham Clark, 29, 2023
Last winner between age 30-39: Bryson DeChambeau, 30, 2024
Last winner over age 40: Payne Stewart, 42, 1999 (sixth-oldest in history)
Last winner who received a special exemption: Hale Irwin, 1990
Last defending champion to miss the cut: Gary Woodland, 2020
Past Winner Notes
2024: Bryson DeChambeau (+2000)
- The top-11 on the final leaderboard all gained strokes with the flat stick with nine of them picking up over 2 strokes
- DeChambeau and McIlroy finished 1-2 for the week and both were top-8 in Prox 100-125 ... length off the tee is valuable but only if you're taking full advantage of it
2023: Wyndham Clark (+10000)
2022: Matt Fitzpatrick (+3000)
2016: Dustin Johnson (+1200)
- Entered with elite form (five top 5's for the season, including t. Jude and Memorial, his two lead-in events)
- Entered having picked up over 6 strokes T2G in four straight events (4+ strokes in seven straight)
2024 First Round Leaders
65 - Rory McIlroy (his best round by four strokes) and Patrick Cantlay (his only round in the 60's for the week)
66 - Ludvig Aberg (11 shots better pre-cut than post-cut)
2016 First Round Leaders
66 - Andrew Landry (his only round in the 60's for the week)
67 - Dustin Johnson (his worst round of the week was a 71 -- prioritized a high floor over a high ceiling) and Lee Westwood (coughed up a lot of money with a Sunday 80)
WEATHER
After the wetness Monday expect things to dry out very quickly until the anticipated rain coming this weekend. Basically no wind in the forecast for play at the moment too.
WINDTOWER: OAKMONT
PICKS
Bryson DeChambeau — A lot of this will come down to the rough. If Bryson can miss in enough places that will still give him an opportunity to hold the greens from the thick grass (or he simply misses into walked-on areas from the crowd) he’ll be perfect for a course in which even par could be a winning score. Too many times at Quail Hollow Bryson was in the perfect position only to leave a wedge 40-feet from the pin and two-putt. While that didn’t work at the PGA Championship it will be plenty good for Oakmont. That, or he pulls a Dustin from 2016, and simply dials in his accuracy and no one catches him.
BRYSON BOOST
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Sepp Straka — I gave out the Straka 80/1 last week in anticipation of the crash the week-of. And now we’re here. There may still be some 50/1s lurking around but the 35-45 range is becoming more common. Scanning the leaderboard from the 2016 US Open, after Dustin, you’ll see a line of shorter, accuracy players who smack great irons and can get hot putting from time-to-time. Sepp is one of the TOURs most accurate players, he’s second to Scheffler in SG: APP per round in 2025, and has gained five or more strokes on the green in three of his past eight starts, including two of his past three. Plus, he just won in Pennsylvania a month ago.
Keegan Bradley & Ryan Gerard — Scottie Scheffler, JJ Spaun, Ryan Gerard & Keegan Bradley are the only four players rating inside the Top 40 of both distance and accuracy over the past 24 rounds entering the US Open. So, if I don’t want to pay for Scottie, let’s try to find AliBaba & Temu Scottie and hope it’s a good knock off. Spaun is a bit too expensive for my tastes at this point of the week, but I just need the other two to hold up long enough to maybe cash the 8 places and we instantly have an awesome week on our hands.
Other names of interest, but don’t know what to do with them yet: Matt McCarty, Chris Gotterup, Bud Cauley, Jacob Bridgeman, Aaron Rai, Mattieu Pavon.