Previous U.S. Open champions are almost invariably golf betting favorites to win it even if only by default. Past champions expected by fans who bet on golf to be in the 2017 U.S. Open field include the following:
Dustin Johnson +1000
Jordan Spieth +900
Martin Kaymer +6600
Justin Rose +2500
Rory McIlroy +800
Tiger Woods +280
Jim Furyk +6600
Dustin Johnson is the defending champion, having won the 2016 edition and his major championship. Johnson finished three strokes ahead of Shane Lowry, Jim Furyk, and Scott Piercy in spite of a controversial penalty on the 5th green. As Johnson prepared to address the ball for a par putt, the ball moved ever so slightly. Perhaps it was possessed? Johnson stepped away claiming that he did not address the ball. Long story short Johnson was penalized a stroke – which seems a rather harsh penalty until one realizes it’s not a stroke in the medical sense of the word – but still finished comfortably in first place.
Jordan Spieth won the 2015 US Open. Spieth was three strokes back after a 68 in the first round but shot a second round of 67 to tie Patrick Reed for the 36-hole lead. Spieth holed a 25-foot birdie putt at the 16th for a three-stroke lead, but then three-putted for double bogey on the par-3 17th to tie with Louis Oosthuizen. At the par-5 18th, Spieth hit the green in two and two-putted for birdie. Spieth gained a one-stroke win for his second straight major title.
Martin Kaymer won the 2014 edition. The German led the first and second rounds with a five-under-par 65. Kaymer shot a 2-over-par 72 in the third but was still five strokes ahead. The Teutonic golfer shot a 69 in the final round to win by eight strokes over the runner-ups. His golf betting odds for this year are not quite that good, though.
Justin Rose won in 2013, his first major championship. Through 16 holes in the final round Rose had five birdies and five bogeys and a one-shot lead over Phil Mickelson.
McIlroy was the victor in 2011. The Irishman had a bogey-free 65 to sit at six-under-par in the first round. In the second, McIlroy set a record for fewest holes to reach 10-under-par. McIlroy finished the final round eight strokes ahead of Jason Day.
Tiger Woods has won the US Open three times, most recently in 2008. Tiger failed to break par for the first day but shot a 30 on the front nine in the second, one stroke more than the record for nine holes set by Vijay Singh in the 2003 Open. Woods had two eagles and a chip-in birdie from the rough on the 17th to take the 54-hole lead at 210 in the third round. Woods had won each of the 13 major championships in which he had entered the final round with at least a share of the lead, and the 2008 Open did not break that streak.
Jim Furyk won the 2003 US Open, where he finished tied for 5th in the first round, tied for first in the second, take sole lead in the third, and win it in the final round. So that’s it for past champions and their golf betting odds to win the 2017 U.S. Open, for the learning of fans who bet on golf.