This year’s US Open may have a huge field, but there is a lot of momentum behind a finite list of names to win the national championship. Rory McIlroy enters the heaters after defending the RBC Canadian Open title. Justin Thomas wants to go back to big companies coming from his second such title in the PGA Championship. Scottie Scheffler’s game has cooled, but he is trying to combine rarified air with a double Masters-US Open. Not to mention Jon Rahm, who also has Brooks Koepka’s usual dominance in this event, where he has only been defeated by four golfers together at the US Open since 2017. And then, of course, there is the story of Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson. What do you do with some big names and many big winners who do not play good golf but continue to make headlines by entering a big league? Without Tiger Woods, even more attention than will usually be given to Mickelson this week. Add it all and it looks like we are in front of a wild US Open full of unexpected twists and many well-known names at the top of the leaderboard. So what’s going to happen in Brooklyn this week? Let’s take a look at a full set of predictions and selections from our CBS Sports experts as we try to project who will win and what will happen in the third big part of the season. Odds via Caesars Sportsbook.
Specialist selections at US Open 2022, predictions
Kyle Porter, Senior Golf Writer
Winner – Justin Thomas (11-1): He plays the best golf of his career and has combined the ever-present confidence that no one in the world is better than him with a wisdom that can only be achieved with age and experience. JT is one of the three best iron players on the planet and his hot putter has translated into victories and almost victories in the last two months. That is not going to change this week, as he even pulls with Jordan Spith with three major career titles.
Sleeper – Davis Riley (60-1): Silently playing some of the best golf in the world, Riley smells like a US Open trophy. What works best (smash irons) is exactly what you need to do best in big leagues and especially at the US Open. Five consecutive top 20 for Riley (including the PGA Championship) that I expect to make six.
Top 10 lock – Brooks Koepka: I plan to get the US Open Brooks instead of the “rest of the year” Brooks. He finished 1-1-2-T4 in a row in this tournament and understands his pace perhaps better than anyone in history. Is he playing well? Not really, but he lost three of the four cuts at last year’s US Open and then almost won it.
A star that will definitely not win – Dustin Johnson: There are many reasons. The first is that he does not play great golf. He has also not won the 2020 Masters and has only been in the top 10 at a PGA Tour stroke play event so far this year. Plus, this week was so circus that even the DJ has to feel it. He is among those leading the opposing LIV Golf Championship, and although his exterior seems impenetrable, the noise has become so loud that I’m not even sure he can ignore it.
Surprise prediction – Thomas and Rory McIlroy duel on Sunday: I do not know if it is a surprise that two of the five best golfers in the world would beat each other for one of the four most sought after titles, but the dream script (a The redux from last weekend’s Canadian Open) rarely plays that way. It would be the perfect end to a fortnight of madness in the world of golf.
Prediction Phil Mickelson – Relevance has already passed this week: We have already heard what we will receive from Mickelson this week. He’s not playing good golf right now and he’s definitely not going to make the cut at the US Open. He has not finished in the top 25 in this tournament since he almost won in 2013.
Lowest Round: 65 (-5) Winning Score: 278 (-2) Sunday Winner Score: 70 (E)
Patrick MacDonald, golf writer
Winner – Patrick Cantlay (25-1): The major league record is poor, but subtract his missed cuts in the PGA Championship and The Players Championship, and Cantlay has an incredible year. In these 10 starts, he has one win, two losses in the playoffs, three finishes in the top-5 and another top 10. I adore the dominant player of the year on the PGA Tour when we put him on a golf course where the capacity of the shirt will has influence in determining the winner. He has the full package and it’s time to drop the monkey off his back.
Sleeper – Corey Conners (45-1): He was a semifinalist in the US Amateur in 2013, which is nice, but the current state of the Canadian game is tailored to the US Open. Accurate and deadly with his irons, Connors has seen an increase in his numbers in a short game over the last three months. If he can make enough of these crucial rebounds up and down, he should be there on Sunday.
Top 10 Padlock – Shane Lowry: Lowry’s first taste of the major championship game was the 2016 US Open in Oakmont. Since then, I thought his game was perfect for the toughest golf test. He is in the middle of one of the best forms of his life and the consistency with which he wins goals and green arrangements will allow him to be a factor in The Country Club.
Star that will not win – Cameron Smith: Accuracy does not matter so much at the recent US Open, but this year will be different. If this theory is true, the Australian will have a hard time, as he loses regular hits from the shirt due to his mess with the driver in his hand. Smith has played in the first two big games of the year, so this is accompanied by a high level of risk, but I could see the No. 6 in the world playing defense from the start.
Surprise Prediction – Rory McIlroy loses the cut: I miss McIlroy one in two every five times, so there’s some value in supporting him if you choose to indulge. The four-time champion was second in the Masters, leader of the first round in the PGA Championship and all indications are that he took No. 5 in The Country Club. It has been an exhausting week in Canada, and while his work is beginning to reflect that of 2014, the occasional mental gap and inaccuracy from the t-shirt could cause him problems.
Phil Mickelson Prediction – The cut was lost despite the positive response from fans: With two spicy batches, we are now moving on to something much milder. The perception around Phil is not good at the moment, but I expect Boston fans to welcome him with open arms – except for the occasional fan. However, remember that this is a 52-year-old who has played only three rounds in the last four months and showed a lot of rust in London.
Lowest Round: 66 (-4) Winning Score: 278 (-2) Sunday Winner Score: 70 (E)
Who will win the US Open and what long-range shots will amaze the golf world? Visit SportsLine now to see the predicted leaderboard and top bets, all from the model that has won eight major golf companies and has raised over $ 9,500 since the restart.
Kyle Boone, author
Winner – Cameron Smith (18-1): Brookline will demand exactly what Smith can bring: a deadly game of lightning green and t-shirt precision for his players’ numerous blind shots golf this week. Smith is third on the PGA Tour this season in stroke wins and 11th in potter strokes. If he plays his game, he will be in the mix, and we have already seen him mingle with the big dogs this season with victories in the Players’ Championship and the Sentry Open plus the top five finishes in the Masters and RSM Classic.
Sleeper – Mito Pereira (55-1): With eight finishes in the top 25 in 21 events of the season, the 27-year-old Pereira quietly spends a first year in what is essentially his rookie. He finished in the top 10 three times, including twice in his last three outings. One of them ended up disappointed, as he kept the lead by walking up to hole No. 72 in the PGA Championship before giving up the lead due to poor driving. Nevertheless, Pereira is a name that could – but should not – be ignored this week given his play at this point. With 55-1, he qualifies as one of the most capable contenders for the underdog at this year’s US Open.
Top 10 lock – Rory McIlroy: He feels that this week he is preparing to become a coronation of Rory. In addition to a win at the Canadian Open last weekend, he has finished in the top-10 in three of his last four events: the Masters, the Wells Fargo Championship and the PGA Championship. At this point, it’s no coincidence: McIlroy has found his form and is taking steps at the right time. He is the favorite for some reason this week and to finish in the top 10 should be the floor.
A Star That Will Definitely Not Win – Dustin Johnson: If you’ve not heard the latest news, the DJ these days may be a bit distracted. He became the first big domino to take part in the $ 125 million LIV Golf Tour and then withdrew from the PGA Tour. Many things happen in his world. In the process, there is reason to suggest that the former No. 1 in the world will not win. He completed six hits from the leader in the first LIV event, which had a weak field. And in the PGA Tour season, it had more missed cuts than the top 10 of the year.
Surprise Prediction – Sam Burns finishes in the top five: Burns is 25-1 to win straight. Do not hate them …
