Futures Betting Guide for the 2019 U.S. Open

Entering this week’s 2019 U.S. Open on a roll, emerging superstar Brooks Koepka seems to have the 2019 U.S. Open betting odds on his side.

In the first major championship on this year’s schedule, Koepka finished in a three-way tie for runner-up, losing by a single stroke to Tiger Woods in the latter’s resurgent Masters victory. A few weeks later, Koepka flat out routed the field through three rounds before hanging on to secure the PGA Championship.

That victory gave Koepka his fourth career major title, putting him on par with legends of the game like Ernie Els and Raymond Floyd, and setting the 29-year old up nicely to make a run at double-digits – a feat accomplished by only Jack Nicklaus (18), Woods (15), and Walter Hagen (11).

And after winning his first major in the 2017 U.S. Open at Erin Hills, Koepka returned to Shinnecock Hills last summer to successfully defend his title. All told, the phenom has captured four of the last eight majors held between 2017 and today.

The venue shifts to Pebble Beach this time around. When the 156 golfers in the field tee off, all but two of them will be underdogs to Koepka as he shoots for the three-peat.

So say the oddsmakers at online sportsbook Bovada anyway, where the opening 2019 U.S. Open betting odds have Koepka listed as a (+800) co-favorite alongside Rory McIlroy and Dustin Johnson.

Tiger Takes on the Three-Headed Dragon

Over the aforementioned last eight majors, Koepka’s four wins haven’t exactly been outliers, as he finished in the top-11 every time out.

If there’s any factor that might leave sports bettors hesitant to back the two-time defending U.S. Open champ, it could be Koepka’s relative inexperience at Pebble Beach. Dubbed the “Crown Jewel of the U.S. Open Sites” by folks in the know, Pebble Beach in California’s Monterey County is known for putting even the greatest golfers to the test.

That was iconic golf scribe Dan Jenkin’s assessment anyway, as he covered Jack Nicklaus’ 3-stroke win there in the 1972 U.S. Open for Sports Illustrated:

“Pebble Beach might have proved that when it is in good condition, as it was for the Open, it is America’s greatest championship test.”

Koepka has only played Pebble Beach’s notoriously tiny greens once in his career as a pro, recording an eighth-place finish in the 2016 AT&T-sponsored event. Given Koepka’s lackluster 59th ranking on Tour in terms of strokes gained in the ground game, the snug confines when pitching and putting could trip him up.

One player who does have plenty of experience at Pebble Beach is Woods (+1100), who turned the 2000 U.S. Open there into his own personal playground. Playing at the peak of his powers, Woods finished at -12 to win by an astounding 15 strokes. That year’s U.S. Open subsequently marked the first of four consecutive major wins to complete the “Tiger Slam”.

While no other golfer scored better than +3 at Pebble Beach, Woods simply demolished the course like no other human ever had – or has since.

Woods may not be a 24-year old wunderkind any longer. After returning to elite form in this year’s Masters, though, and opening with a 67 first-round en route to a -5 card to tie for ninth-place in his Memorial tune-up – a focused Woods storming Pebble Beach with a major on the line for the second time in two decades wouldn’t be surprising in the slightest.

Co-favorite Johnson, winner of the 2016 U.S. Open, also knows the course quite well. He’s won the AT&T Pebble Beach twice (2009 and 2010), finished as runner-up twice (2014 and 2018), and placed in the Top-5 on three other occasions.

The third co-favorite, McIlroy, has missed the cut in his only two appearances at Pebble Beach (2010 U.S. Open and 2018 AT&T). However, he’s coming in white hot. The four-time major winner, including the 2011 U.S. Open, finished -22 to crush the field by seven strokes at the recent Canadian Open.

Full Odds for the Top-25 Favorites

You’ll find 25 golfers offering better than 75 to 1 on becoming the next U.S. Open champion. Full 2019 U.S. Open betting odds on all of them can be found in the table below:

2019 U.S. Open Betting Odds on Bovada