A few weeks ago, the man of the moment was undoubtedly Rory McIlroy following the completion of his career Grand Slam at The Masters.
That led to some discussion over whether he could claim all four Majors this year, with odds of +7500 (75/1) quoted in the build-up to the PGA Championship. However, by that point, the player who dominated 2024, Scottie Scheffler, had begun to click into gear.
Scheffler was still looking for his first victory of the season when he left Augusta National having finished fourth, but he sent out a strong warning sign to his rivals less than a month later with an eight-shot win at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson.
Two weeks later, he was at it again, this time claiming his third Major title and first in the PGA Championship before his third win in less than a month came at the Memorial Tournament.
Because of that, it is no surprise that he is the favorite to win the US Open at Oakmont, and just how fancied he is to claim the trophy can be found in his betting odds, which are the shortest since Tiger Woods in 2009.
Per betting odds comparison site Oddschecker, Scheffler is currently priced at just +275 (11/4) to win the title, with Woods’ odds of +175 (7/4) 16 years ago the last time a player’s odds were so short ahead of the tournament.
Meanwhile, 7.3% of all Oddschecker bets on the tournament in the last seven days are backing Scheffler for the win, although that is down on the 14.9% of bets he attracted last year, before he eventually placed T41 as Bryson DeChambeau claimed the title.
The bad news for Scheffler is that his failure to win a year ago despite pre-tournament odds of +290 (29/10) was not a one-off, with no favorite since Woods in 2008 lifting the trophy. Despite Woods’ short odds a year later, he could only manage T6 at Bethpage Black as Lucas Glover took the title.
Oddschecker’s Leon Blackman explained bookies have had little choice but to make Scheffler favorite given his stunning recent form. He said: “Ahead of the US Open this week, bookmakers in the UK are protecting themselves for a signature Scottie Scheffler performance.
"Winning three of his last four starts has given oddsmakers no choice but to price Scheffer similarly to prime Tiger at under 3/1. Scheffler backers will be hoping he can break the 17-year hoodoo of betting favourites being unable to win the US Open.”
As for McIlroy, who missed the cut at last week’s RBC Canadian Open as his sluggish form since his Masters win continued, he’s only Oddschecker’s eighth most popular bet to win his first US Open title since 2011. DeChambeau is priced at +700 (7/1), the third most popular bet in the days ahead of the tournament.
Behind Scheffler, the player attracting most bets to win is Ludvig Aberg, attracting 6.4% over the last seven days, as customers see value in his odds of +2500 (25/1) as he seeks his maiden Major title.
