The Next Major is Just Around the Corner

The U.S. Open is just around the corner. This year one of the best events on the golfing calendar is being held at The Olympic Club in San Francisco. The last time the U.S. Open was held at this venue was back in 1998 when Lee Janzen won the tournament; unsurprisingly I would not expect Janzen to repeat his success! However with betting now available for the Open it is certainly interesting to have a look at the course and perhaps analyse what element of game the course may suit.

The course that they generally play for the open is one of the more difficult U.S. courses. With narrow greens and long holes players need both length and accuracy to achieve a good score.

Interestingly in the four previous occasions that the open was held at The Olympic Club the winning score was only under par on one occasion and an average winning score of over par when considering the four previous occasions that the Open was held at this venue. With this in mind it might be worthwhile to keep an eye on some of the older players in the tournament.

While generally the older players only have one or two good rounds in them and cannot sustain that form, in this case one or two good rounds could easily win the tournament. Interestingly Steve Stricker is one of the few golfers that have had some previous experience on course. In the 1998 Open he finished tied for 5th place, that year others of note who finished in the top ten were Phil Mickelson, Stewart Cink and Lee Westwood.

In the previous Open held at this club Scott Simpson won the tournament and Tom Watson came second. It will be interesting to see if either of these players will play. Looking at the current betting I think Stricker could play well at a big price and also Westwood will most likely have another consistent outing. Lee has to win a major at some point in time and he does have some experience on this course, however at 16/1 the price might just be a bit short.

Remember though you heard it here first, keep an eye on the veterans playing in this one!