Less than a week separates golf bettors from the start of the 2022 U.S. Open at The Country Club in Brookline, Mass.

As it stands, Scottie Scheffler (+1200) is the favorite to win the event. A victory would mark Scheffler’s second major win of the calendar year after the Texas native won The Masters in April. Following closely behind on the odds board are defending U.S. Open champion Jon Rahm, this year’s PGA Championship winner Justin Thomas and four-time major winner Rory McIlroy, all at +1400.

In case you missed my previous look, I’m already in on both Daniel Berger (+5000) and Justin Rose (+6600) at The Country Club. This week, though, we’re focusing on the favorites and which top-tier golfers are worth an investment in the futures market.
Here are my two favorite bets amongst the top 15 on the futures boards. Odds come courtesy of BetMGM at time of print.

Zalatoris has quickly established himself as a big-game hunter on tour and has continued to produce outstanding performances at the majors.

This year, he tied for sixth at the Masters before losing in a playoff at the PGA Championship. He also tied for fifth last week at the Memorial. In his past seven major championship appearances, Zalatoris has finished inside the top 10 six times.

His U.S. Open results have been mixed. Zalatoris missed the cut last year at Torrey Pines — his lone finish out of the top 10 in his past seven majors — but was tied for sixth in 2020 at Winged Foot. I’m choosing, however, to place more emphasis on the latter result because Winged Foot correlates closer to The Country Club than Torrey Pines South.

Plus, there are a lot of underlying metrics that suggest Zalatoris is a good fit at The Country Club. Across his past 24 qualifying rounds, he’s 40th on tour in good drives gained — defined as either hitting the fairway or hitting the green from the rough. Additionally, he’s ninth on tour over the past 24 rounds in greens regulation gained.
Zalatoris is also 11th in opportunities gained, fourth in birdies gained and 40th in bogey avoidance over those same 24 rounds.

Fitzpatrick’s odds have drifted just high enough that he’s now, in my opinion, bettable at The Country Club. Those interested in Fitzpatrick likely will remember he won the 2013 U.S. Amateur played at this same venue and, like Zalatoris, has played very well this year in the majors. At the Masters, Fitzpatrick finished in a tie for 14th. At Southern Hills, it was tied for fifth.

In fact, throw out his missed cut last week at the Memorial — a course that has never suited him — and Fitzpatrick has finished 5-2-MC-14-5 in his past five starts. Since the calendar turned to February, Fitzpatrick has finished 10th or better in six of seven starts when he’s made the cut.

The underlying metrics are strong on Fitzpatrick, too. Over his past 24 rounds, the Brit ranks seventh on tour in good drives gained, 12th in GIRs gained and second in scrambling gained. Not to mention he leads the tour in bogey avoidance over those same 24 rounds.

Be sure to shop around on Fitzpatrick’s odds, but I would play him at +2500 or better to win the U.S. Open.