Dustin Johnson is the big favorite to win the 2017 US Open. If he does achieve that feat, he’d be the first player to successfully defend his US Open title since Curtis Strange in 1989. If you fancy that trend holding up this year, here are three of the top underdogs to bet on winning the major.
Kisner will be in fine form heading into this year’s US Open. The 33-year-old followed up a terrific win at the Dean & Deluca Invitational—his first tournament win of the season—with a very solid T6 finish at the Memorial. That’s Kisner’s sixth top-10 finish this year. He’s also now up to sixth in the current FedEx Cup standings.
Kisner hasn’t had the greatest success in major tournaments thus far in his career, but with the way he’s been playing at the moment, this could finally be his year. Kisner’s accuracy off the tee—he’s currently ranked 12th on tour in terms of driving accuracy percentage this season—will be crucial to avoid the treacherous parts of Erin Hills.
Lowry hasn’t had the greatest season to date. He’s got just one top-10 finish in 11 events, and missed the cut at the Masters and The Players Championship. However, Lowry is coming off one of his better performances of the year at the Memorial.
Moreover, Lowry for some reason just loves playing at the US Open. The Irishman was right there along with Dustin Johnson last yeat at Oakmont, only to pick up three bogies in the final five holes of the fourth round to finish T2.
That was Lowry’s second consecutive top-10 finish at the US Open. It’s admittedly a pretty small sample size, but it’s still enough to take a flyer on Lowry at +6,000, which is a nice price given his recent track record.
Johnson has honestly been having a pretty miserable year. He’s missed the cut in four of his 14 tournaments, which includes consecutive missed cuts at the Masters and the Valero Texas Open. It looked as if he was getting it together at the Wells Fargo Championship, but proceeded to bomb in his next three starts at the Players Championsip, the Dean & Deluca Invitational, and the Memorial. He finished T40 at the Memorial, his best finish out of the three.
But despite his struggles, it’s not every tournament you get a two-time major winner at such high odds. And after years of struggles, Johnson had his best finish at the US Open last year with a T8. Johnson is an accurate driver (16th on tour in driving accuracy percentage) and is also pretty capable at scrambling. Those are important skills that will likely come in handy at Erin Hills, which is why Johnson is still a worthwhile bet despite his astronomical odds.
