The two best players in the world have claimed the first two major championships of the 2024 season. Scottie Scheffler surged past a congested leaderboard Sunday at the Masters and into his second green jacket, while Xander Schauffele outlasted a star-studded leaderboard at Valhalla to enter golf immortality.
That begs the question then ahead of the 2024 U.S. Open: Will the year's third major belong to the third-best player?
Well, batting in that part of the lineup as of now is world No. 3 Rory McIlroy. The four-time major champion is approaching the 10-year anniversary of his last major triumph and looks to get off the schied as the U.S. Open returns to Pinehurst No. 2 for the first time in a decade. It was that summer McIlroy rattled off victories at The Open and the PGA Championship, but the 35-year-old has been shutout since.
McIlroy nearly knocked the door down in last year's U.S. Open but ultimately fell one stroke shy of Wyndham Clark. The reigning champion has experienced a turbulent year with a win at Pebble Beach and runner-up finishes at the Players Championship and Arnold Palmer Invitational, but he has also been an early exit in both of the two first majors.
If the good version of Clark shows up at Pinehurst, he could threaten to become the first back-to-back champion since Brooks Koepka. A five-time major winner, Koepka looks to add a third U.S. Open trophy to his mantle and scoot his name up the list of all-time major winners.
Collin Morikawa seeks a third major championship of his own and a first U.S. Open. A win at Pinehurst would represent the third leg of the career grand slam and set up an opportunity to join golf's most exclusive club next spring at Augusta National. Jon Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau and Viktor Hovland round out the notable names near the top of the odds board who are likely to play a role in this week's championship.
2024 U.S. Open odds, favorites
- Scottie Scheffler: 11/4
It's Scottie's world, and everyone else is just living in it. Claiming the Memorial last week for his fifth victory of the season -- all in his last eight tournaments -- the world No. 1 has shortened below the 3-1 price tag we have been used to seeing him hold. Pick a statistical category, and he probably leads it. Pick an ideal course fit for him, and you probably settle on Pinehurst No. 2. Pick a player with not only the physical tools, but the mental stamina to endure a historic run like this and pick off another major along the way and you land on Scheffler.
- Rory McIlroy: 10-1
- Xander Schauffele: 12-1
- Collin Morikawa: 16-1
- Bryson DeChambeau: 18-1
- Viktor Hovland: 18-1
- Brooks Koepka: 22-1
- Ludvig Åberg: 22-1
- Jon Rahm: 25-1
After Scheffler, there are no other players in single digits and only eight south of 30-1. They include all the big-name contenders one would expect to give the world No. 1 chase. McIlroy's U.S. Open record has been stellar as of late with five straight top-10 finishes, and Schauffele boasts a similar résumé with seven top-15 finishes in as many appearances. Koepka has a pair of trophies to highlight this crowd, but it's his league mate, Rahm, who draws the most intrigue. Withdrawing from LIV Golf Houston last week, the 2021 champion arrives with some question marks around his status and his game as his name continues to drift down the odds board.
- Cameron Smith: 35-1
- Tommy Fleetwood: 35-1
- Justin Thomas: 40-1
- Patrick Cantlay: 45-1
- Max Homa: 50-1
- Matt Fitzpatrick: 55-1
- Tyrrell Hatton: 55-1
- Hideki Matsuyama: 55-1
- Shane Lowry: 60-1
- Tom Kim: 60-1
- Jordan Spieth: 60-1
- Tony Finau: 65-1
- Wyndham Clark: 70-1
- Sahith Theegala: 70-1
- Min Woo Lee: 75-1
- Corey Conners: 75-1
- Will Zalatoris: 75-1
- Sam Burns: 75-1
Speaking of question marks, this group of players is chock full of them. Smith just fired an 80 to close out LIV Golf Houston. Lowry posted an 85 at the Memorial. Spieth hasn't factored in a tournament since February. Clark missed the cut at the Masters, PGA Championship and last week's Memorial. And then there's Patrick Cantlay, who can't seem to find his game. If there is one name to circle, Matsuyama may be the one as he has the iron play and short game to make noise in this championship.
- Keegan Bradley: 80-1
- Jason Day: 90-1
- Cameron Young: 90-1
- Sepp Straka: 90-1
- Dustin Johnson: 90-1
- Byeong Hun An: 90-1
- Russell Henley: 100-1
- Denny McCarthy: 110-1
- Dean Burmester: 110-1
- Si Woo Kim: 110-1
- Sungjae Im: 110-1
- Justin Rose: 110-1
There are few names that jump off the page here with Straka drawing the most interest. He arrives at the U.S. Open fresh off back-to-back top-five finishes and with a world of confidence on his corner. The big Austrian has been in the mix before at the PGA Championship and The Open, but the U.S. Open has been a different story with two straight missed cuts. Pinehurst may be the perfect spot for him, and the same goes for Day. A top-five finisher at the 2014 U.S. Open, the former world No. 1 will need to take a stride with his approach play if he is to surprise, but it isn't out of the realm of possibilities.
- Brian Harman: 150-1
- Alex Noren: 150-1
- Harris English: 170-1
- Billy Horschel: 170-1
- Christiaan Bezuidenhout: 170-1
- Thomas Detry: 200-1
- Rickie Fowler: 200-1
- Adam Hadwin: 200-1
- Ryan Fox: 200-1
- Tom Hoge: 220-1
- Kurt Kitayama: 220-1
- Akshay Bhatia: 220-1
- Erik van Rooyen: 250-1
- Aaron Rai: 270-1
- Stephan Jaeger: 270-1
Who will win the U.S. Open, and which longshots will stun the golfing world? Visit SportsLine to see the projected U.S. Open leaderboard, all from the model that's nailed 12 golf majors, including the last three Masters and the 2024 PGA Championship.
