One of many highlights within the {golfing} calendar takes place this week on the US Open, reside on Sky Sports activities, however who will find yourself having fun with main success at Pinehurst No 2?
Wyndham Clark returns as defending champion after final 12 months’s one-shot win over Rory McIlroy, whereas world No 1 Scottie Scheffler is the pre-tournament favorite after his dominant begin to the season on the PGA Tour.
Scheffler claimed a one-shot win on the Memorial Event over Collin Morikawa, who can transfer three-quarters of the best way to a profession Grand Slam with victory in North Carolina, with Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka among the many LIV Golf contingent trying to impress.
The final 5 US Opens have produced maiden main champions, however will that run proceed? We requested the Sky Sports activities Golf group to solid their eye over a few of the gamers prone to impress…
Can Morikawa catch Scheffler?
Morikawa has top-four finishes in his final six begins, together with each majors this 12 months, though stays with no win this season after Scheffler held on forward of him at Muirfield Village on Sunday to assert a fifth PGA Tour victory of the marketing campaign.
Scheffler has additionally received the Arnold Palmer Invitational, The Gamers, The Masters and the RBC Heritage in 2024, with Sky Sports activities’ Nick Dougherty backing the American pair to impress once more.
“While I feel that Morikawa can have an important likelihood at Pinehurst No 2, as a result of it’s all about management of your iron play and ensuring you hit these tiny greens that wish to repel the ball in each path, the person that’s higher than Morikawa proper now in that regard is Scheffler.
“I know it’s the favourite and he is the guy that everybody is going to pick, but there’s a reason for that and that is because he’s the best by a country mile. He puts it in great places off the tee and from there he can use his strongest asset right now, which is his iron play.
“Should you discover the targets round Pinehurst and gap a couple of putts, which he is doing extra of later, then I simply do not assume anybody will be capable to hold with him.”
Former Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley additionally expects Morikawa to problem, saying: “He is in a rich vein of form and pushed Scheffler all the way at The Memorial.
“I feel he’ll keep it up that type right into a golf course that ought to go well with him. He is a very good chipper of the ball, which goes to be actually necessary. “
Who else might impress?
Wealthy Beem: “Shane Lowry‘s ball-striking has really blossomed this year and his short game is still one of the best on the planet. He may have a surprisingly bad finish to the Memorial Tournament, but I think that he has a great chance to claim a second major championship.”
David Howell: “Ludvig Ã…berg is sensational from tee to green and is going to win majors, so why not go ahead and win one at an iconic venue than Pinehurst No 2? The Swede could well be the man this week.”
Wayne ‘Radar’ Riley: “I like Brian Harman’s chances this week. He hits it straight, he’s a good iron player, is a good chipper and a wonderful putter. He’s everything you need to be around here – you certainly don’t need to be long. He won by a big margin at The Open and could again here!”
Robert Lee: “Sooner or later, Rory McIlroy‘s going to make his main duck once more this week. Everybody will get plugged into The Masters due to what it means, however why cannot it occur right here? He isn’t miles away.
“I also think Xander Schauffele has got to the point now where he is going to make his level of consistency pay, in terms of his wins. What he has been lacking in is getting over the line and I think Schauffele has a big chance.”
Jamie Spence: “Matt Fitzpatrick is the type of participant who would do effectively round right here. He completed fifth on the Memorial Event, seventeenth in final 12 months’s US Open as defending champion and fifth in The Gamers earlier this 12 months.
“He hasn’t been on top form this year, but has shown enough for me on a golf course that should suit him. He’s generally a very straight driver, he thinks really well and is one of the best putters when he gets going. He has enough invention in him that I think he’s a live runner as an outsider.”
Have your say! Who will win the US Open?
Sky Sports activities continues to be the house of the US Open, with over 45 hours of reside protection of the 4 event days from June 13-16 and many additional event programming all through the week.
Protection from the primary two rounds begins from 12.30pm on Thursday and Friday, with the motion beginning at 3pm on Saturday and 2pm on the ultimate day.
Who will win the third males’s main of the 12 months? Watch the US Open reside on Sky Sports activities. Dwell protection begins on Thursday from 12.30pm on Sky Sports activities Golf. Stream the US Open and rather more with NOW.