No Real Favorite in 2011 U.S. Open

With Tiger Woods out of the second major tournament of 2011 because of an injury, favoritism to win at Congressional Country Club at Bethesda, Maryland this week has fallen onto two European players:  Lee Westwood and Luke Donald.

Both Westwood and Donald are at +1000 in the sportsbook to take home the U.S. Open trophy this Sunday.  Donald, the number one ranked player in the world, has been exceptional on the PGA Tour this season.  Since missing the cut at the Northern Trust Open in late February, Donald has finished in the Top 10 in eight straight tournaments including winning the WGC-Accenture Match Play Tournament and finishing fourth at the Masters in April.  Westwood, the number two ranked player in the world, has been holding his own on the European Tour, but only has eleventh place finishes at the Masters and the FedEx St. Jude Classic to show for on the PGA Tour in 2011.

The top American with a shot at U.S. Open glory is, according to the odds makers, Phil Mickelson.  America’s most popular player, Mickelson is going to have to turn around his recent form.  A twenty-seventh place finish at the Masters, followed by a thirty-third place finish at The Players Championship, should give pause to anybody looking to score on Lefty this week.

Rory McIlroy is once again receiving love to win a major at +1400 although the best he could do is finish fifteenth at the Masters.  At +4000, not much is expected from McIlroy’s fellow Irishman, and the U.S. Open defending champion, Graeme McDowell.  McDowell has missed the cut in three out of the last five tournaments that he’s played on the PGA Tour.  That includes missing the cut at the Masters.

The north of +2000 golfer that figures to garner the most attention to win the U.S. Open this week has to be Steve Stricker.  Ranked fourth in the world, Stricker finished eleventh at the Masters and goes into the U.S. Open off of a victory at the Memorial Tournament where he shot a -16.  Along with Stricker, Germany’s Martin Kaymer, the 2010 PGA Championship winner, is also listed at +2200. 

Both Dustin Johnson and KJ Choi at +2500 have a chance to make their presence felt on Sunday while Matt Kuchar at +1800 is the only other golfer going off at odds less than +2000.  Kuchar finished sixth at the HP Byron Nelson Championship and second at the Memorial Tournament in his two tune-ups for the U.S. Open.
 
Below are the golfers going off at +5000 or less to win this week’s U.S. Open.

Lee Westwood                        +1000

Luke Donald                           +1000

Phil Mickelson                        +1200

Rory McIlroy                          +1400

Matt Kuchar                            +1800

Martin Kaymer                        +2200

Steve Stricker                          +2200

Dustin Johnson                       +2500

KJ Choi                                   +2500

Nick Watney                           +3000

Bubba Watson                          +3500

Graeme McDowell                  +4000

Jason Day                                +4000

David Toms                            +4500

Adam Scott                             +5000

Padraig Harrington                 +5000

Robert Karlsson                      +5000