For the first time since 2008, the US Open will be held at Torrey Pines Golf Course. Remember 2008? That was when Tiger Woods won his third US Open golf title in a heart-stopping playoff against Rocco Mediate. Well, Tiger Woods is not playing in this year’s edition of the US Open, but the action down in San Diego is still expected to be intense. With all that said, let’s now take a look at some of the favorites, sleepers, and long shots for the 2021 US Open.
We all have heard of Rahm’s unfortunate stint in the 2021 Memorial Tournament where he had to pull out of the tournament despite leading the event through three rounds because of a positive COVID-19 test. But he appears ready to return to action after receiving two negative results in a span of 24 hours. Rahm has five appearances at Torrey Pines (South), and that includes his win there during the 2017 Farmers Insurance Open. Four of those starts also resulted in top-5 finishes for the Spaniard.
DeChambeau has got to be in the conversation. After all, he is the defending champion of this event, though he won it in a different location in 2020. On the season, DeChambeau has two wins, which includes his victory in the Arnold Palmer Invitational back in March. He will also arrive at Torrey Pines with a streak of nine straight made cuts.
It’s been an up-and-down season so far for Johnson, but he remains the world’s top-ranked player. Johnson has won the US Open once before, topping the rest of the field back in the 2016 edition of the tournament at Oakmont Country Club, taking home $1.6 million as his prize for dominating the event.
Everybody loves Phil Mickelson, especially after he became the oldest major event winner when he won the 2021 PGA Championship last May. People will be cheering for him again, as he only needs a US Open trophy to complete a grand slam.
Snedeker is on a quiet roll. He has made the cut in all of his last seven starts, including a T6 in the Valero Texas Open and a T4 in the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. And get this: he has two career wins at Torrey Pines (South) across 15 starts there, dating back to 2007.
McDowell doesn’t have momentum going for him. He has missed the cut in both of his last two starts and three of his last four. In fact, he’s missed all but five of his 15 starts so far this season.
The 31-year-old South African finally broke his streak of four straight missed cuts when he made the cut in the Palmetto Championship. He’s got a lone top-10 finish this season, and that’s when he ended up with a T9 in the 2021 World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play last March.
