Golf expert Ben Coley has his eye on six players in their respective three-balls ahead of the first round of the US Open.
Golf betting tips: US Open round one three-balls
1pt treble Schauffele, Fitzpatrick & Norgaard at 14/1 (Paddy Power, BoyleSports)
1pt double Grillo and Finau at 9/2 (General)
0.5pt five-fold the above selections at 80/1 (bet365, Coral, Ladbrokes)
Grillo to beat Lacroix and Bairstow (1730 BST)
Bar Scottie Scheffler, there may be no better iron player on the PGA Tour right now than EMILIANO GRILLO, who averages two strokes gained per round over his last four tournaments. For context, Scheffler averages 1.34 for the season, slightly higher than his 2024 total.
Good things should follow for Grillo then and whether or not that means a strong US Open display, if he continues to hit the ball as he has been doing he can take care of two DP World Tour players in Frederic Lacroix and Sam Bairstow.
Lacroix's putter would have to be a major concern while Bairstow turned in a shocking display in the Netherlands last week. He's better than that of course but it's no way to prepare for a second go at the US Open, especially having shot 84 in his opening round last year.
Finau to beat Hughes and Kirk (1858 BST)
Finally, TONY FINAU can beat Mackenzie Hughes and Chris Kirk if his putter behaves reasonably well.
Finau's US Open record is strong with five good performances in nine, and although one of his rare missed cuts came here at Oakmont, that was at the start of his career and came by a single stroke. He's since managed three top-10s in seven, including at Pinehurst last year.
As was the case then, his form at the moment isn't spectacular but this is a player who knows how to cope with these tough major championship set-ups and it was therefore no surprise at all to see him hanging around close to the lead at Quail Hollow.
Something similar could be on the cards here and with Kirk's putter a serious issue at the moment, I would expect Hughes to provide the main threat. He's had a good year from tee-to-green and has a couple of notable US Open performances to his name, but he's not putting as we know he can, and bar a soft Houston Open set-up his driver hasn't exactly become a strength.
With Finau's iron play having turned a corner and his driver generally solid until last time, I'd have him no bigger than even-money for this.
Schauffele to beat DeChambeau and Ballester (1229 BST)
At the risk of putting too many eggs into a basket, and having Bryson DeChambeau eat all of them (whites only, presumably), XANDER SCHAUFFELE is worth a bet against him in one of the marquee three-balls on the first morning of the US Open.
I maintain that, rain or no rain, DeChambeau's waywardness off the tee could be a big issue. And while Schauffele hasn't been at his most accurate since returning from injury, if you were to price up a most-fairways match between these two, he'd be a strong favourite. That could be decisive.
Jose Ballester is another absolute speed freak who thrashes the ball all over the place and both he and DeChambeau were right near the foot of the LIV Golf driving accuracy stats last week. Just how many times can they get away with hacking out of the cabbage here? Bryson perhaps a few more than Ballester, but it could get them both eventually.
Schauffele also happens to boast a phenomenal US Open record of eight top-15 finishes in eight appearances and, significantly perhaps, the foundations have always been laid on Thursdays. Never has he been worse than 26th after the opening round and on six occasions he's been inside the top 10. At as big as 6/4 in a likely match, he's hard to resist.
Fitzpatrick to beat Clark and Woodland (1240 BST)
I did consider short-hitting Zac Blair in a low-key group given his experience and decent US Open record but we'll stick to those priced up more widely, with MATT FITZPATRICK fancied to get the better of fellow former champions Wyndham Clark and Gary Woodland.
Clark is struggling at the moment and while he drove the ball much better in Canada, that was a course made for power players like him. Significantly, I think, his best three driving displays this year have all come at places you might expect him to be able to get away with the odd big miss and I simply don't think he'll be able to do that, at least not for long, at Oakmont.
With Woodland's only notable performances lately having been putter-driven, and both these two inconsistent in the US Open, Fitzpatrick looks a solid bet. He's made nine of 10 US Open cuts, the exception when missing out by a shot at a course he hated, and he's much more accurate than his playing partners despite some driver troubles over the past year.
Things have been looking up of late and with a top-10 finish at the PGA Championship behind him, plus experience of making the cut here in 2016 that neither playing partner can match, he can prove too steady at a nice price.
Norgaard to beat Campbell and Lower (1313 BST)
I am generally in favour of good overall drivers this week, those who are neither wild nor short, but this is the US Open and any severe power mismatches have to at least be contemplated.
One comes in the form of NIKLAS NORGAARD against Brian Campbell and Justin Lower and while opposing Campbell didn't pay off in the Masters earlier in the year, around here I think it will. He's been driving the ball poorly, is just about the shortest hitter in the field, and withdrew from his latest start.
Lower meanwhile is without a top-30 finish anywhere since he contended for the AmEx back in January and while he scraped through to the weekend on his US Open debut last year, that was at a firmer Pinehurst, versus a soft Oakmont. It'll surely catch him out and I'd project a pretty high score.
Norgaard was a bit disappointing in Canada but that came just a couple of days after he qualified for this pretty impressively. With no time to prepare I can overlook his performance in Toronto, while the fact that he hit the ball so well at Quail Hollow has to go down as encouraging. He's a superb driver of the ball and can pound these two into submission.
Gotterup to beat Lagergren and Howell (1336 BST)
Joakim Lagergren placed for us at a massive price last week but he's a golfer whose performances can vary wildly from one tournament to the next, and we could potentially profit by opposing him this time.
Given that the other member of this group is 17-year-old high schooler, Mason Howell, it's Chris Gotterup almost by default, with his waywardness off the tee less of a worry given that Lagergren is anything but straight.
Gotterup also comes here in career-best ball-striking form and he knows what a US Open is all about having made the cut at Brookline. Six top-30s in his last eight starts show how well he's playing and providing he doesn't do anything silly, he should take care of business here.
Unfortunately, this is one of the three-balls which has only been priced by bet365 and a couple of smaller firms, with two sets of prices between them. If you can get on with them he looks the banker to my eye.
Posted at 2030 BST on 10/06/25
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