Those of us in the UK will be made to wait until almost three o'clock on Thursday for the US Open to begin, and among the early starters MICHAEL KIM can help make it worthwhile (1456 BST).
Kim had to show patience too before sneaking into the field as an alternate, and it'll be an overdue return for the player who finished 17th as the leading amateur a decade ago.
Having suffered a massive dip in form following his PGA Tour breakthrough in 2018, Kim has been playing the best golf of his career lately, with two top-10 finishes in three before a quiet week with the putter hurt him in Canada.
Raised in California, this is a great place to make his comeback and Kim was in fact part of the winning team in the Pac-12 Conference event held at LACC, the one which has helped elevate Max Homa up a lot of people's shortlists having starred that week.
Kim will be relishing this opportunity and looks a great bet to outperform Jordan Smith, a real flusher whose putting woes potentially cost him a third DP World Tour title last time out in Germany.
Smith has a top-10 finish in a major to his name courtesy of the 2017 PGA Championship, but Kim's recent form is stronger given that he's been playing at a higher level, and he also boasts home advantage.
Amateur Wenyi Ding completes the three-ball and he's produced plenty of good golf throughout 2023, but he's short enough in the market for one so inexperienced and I much prefer Kim.
Homa's winning spree in his home state is well documented, with four of his six PGA Tour titles captured in California, and it follows that he's been in the mix from the get-go on several occasions.
All told he's been in the top five after round one on seven of his last 14 starts here, including second and first in the last two events held at Riviera, so with an early tee-time to work with and the course record already in his possession, he's a likeable option.
Homa was seventh after the opening round at Colonial when last seen and he's done his best work early on in majors, without yet seeing it through. This could be the week but I'll take the additional volatility of the first-round leader market in return for a bigger price now that he's bagged an early slot.
Rodgers has played in just four editions of the US Open and he's been inside the top 20 after the first round of each of his last three, which is where he was again after both an opening 70 at the PGA Championship and a similar round at the Memorial.
He's done everything to an exceptional standard at some point recently and at three-figure prices from an early slot he's my idea of a potential dark horse on day one, but stakes should be kept to a minimum in an event so competitive.
Posted at 2100 BST on 13/06/23
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