U.S. Open 2023 Post-First Round Odds And Round 2 Matchups To Bet
We got a stacked leaderboard atop the 2023 U.S. Open after Thursday's opening round. Californians Rickie Fowler and Xander Schauffele both shot a course record 62 (-8) at the Los Angeles Country Club and lead entering Friday.
Other notables on the first-page of the 2023 U.S. Open leaderboard include past champions Dustin Johnson (2016), Rory McIlroy (2011) and Bryson DeChambeau (2020) and World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler lurking with a -3 at T7.
The scoring for the first round of the 2023 U.S. Open at the LACC's North Course was a little higher than expected. The USGA has some work to do Thursday night and Friday morning to increase the LACC's difficulty.
Nonetheless, golf's third major of the season is shaping up to be a thrill ride. The two leaders in the clubhouse are long-time golf superstars who are both yet to win a major with several former major champions in pursuit.
Adjusted 2023 U.S. Open odds post-Round 1
Odds 1-11
The reason for the odd-number is due to there being a tie for the 10th-best odds to win the 2023 U.S. Open post-Round 1 between Viktor Hovland and Tony Finau.
U.S. Open 2023 betting odds for golfers 1-11 after the 1st round from DraftKings.
Odds 12-23
Similar to the tie for the 10th-best odds above, there is a three-way tie for the 20th-best odds between Jordan Spieth, Collin Morikawa and Ryan Fox at +13000.
Betting odds for golfers 12-23 after the 1st round from DraftKings.
Round 2 Head-to-Head Looks
For the record, these will be small "Pizza Bets" to spice up Friday's action at the LACC. In other words, I'd only wager $20-25 at most on the following second-round matchups.
Joaquin Niemann (-120) > Keegan Bradley at DraftKings
Entering this tournament, Niemann ranked 15th in my key stat model over the last 36 rounds, courtesy of FantasyNational.com, while Bradley was 29th.
Furthermore, Bradley is 113th out of 156 golfers in Strokes Gained (SG): Tee-to-Green (T2G) after the first 18 holes at the 2023 U.S. Open whereas Niemann 49th, according to DataGolf.com.
Joaquín Niemann plays a shot on the second hole during the first round of the 123rd U.S. Open Championship at The Los Angeles Country Club. (Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
Bradley was bad with the driver — 130th in SG: Off-the-Tee (OTT) — and with his irons — 143rd in SG: Approach (APP) — in the first round.
Also, Niemann won the 2022 Genesis Invitational at the Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, California, which was designed by the same guy (George Thomas) who did the LACC.
BET 0.25 units (u) on Joaquin Niemann vs. Keegan Bradley
Gambling strategy: If your standard unit is $100, only risk $25 on Niemann over Bradley in the second round of the 2023 U.S. Open.
Mito Pereira (+105) > Wyndham Clark at DraftKings
This is just a good number for Mito who was on the wrong side of putting variance Thursday. Per DataGolf.com, Pereira was sixth in SG: OTT and 19th in SG: T2G in the first round but just 139th in SG: Putting.
Prior to the 2023 U.S. Open, Clark was 105th in this field for SG: Putting on Bentgrass over the last 24 rounds, which makes up the LACC's greens. Granted, Pereira was worse at 112nd but Clark just feels like he'll come back to the pack.
Mito Pereira putts on the 10th hole during the first round of the U.S. Open golf tournament at Los Angeles Country Club. (Michael Madrid-USA TODAY Sports)
Clark missed the cut in four of his six career appearances in majors and finished T75 and T76 in the other two. Mito was T19 in the 2023 PGA Championship and famously choked away a massive final round lead for a T3 at the 2022 PGA Championship.
Southern Hills Country Club in Oklahoma was the host course of the 2022 PGA Championship and is a comp course to the LACC. Southern Hills was restored by Gil Hanse who also restored Thomas' original design for the North Course.
BET 0.25u on Mito Pereira vs. Wyndham Clark
Dustin Johnson to Finish Top-5 (+165)
We got a glimpse of the old DJ Thursday at the LACC. Johnson is two strokes behind Fowler and Xander entering the second round of the 2023 U.S. Open but was ball striking better than both of them.
Per DataGolf.com, DJ was 2nd in the field for SG: APP and 3rd in SG: OTT Thursday. But, Johnson was just 86th in SG: Putting and, if knocked down a few more putts, DJ would've been our first-round leader.
Dustin Johnson reacts to his putt on the seventh green during the first round of the 123rd U.S. Open Championship at The Los Angeles Country Club. (Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)
There aren't 10 better golfers in the world when DJ is on his game. It's been "out of sight, out of mind" with Johnson since he defected to the LIV Tour last year. But, if DJ keeps up this ball striking, he could win his second U.S. Open.
BET 0.25u on Dustin Johnson to place Top-5 (+165)
Pre-2023 U.S. Open Betting Coverage
HOT LINKS: 2023 U.S. OPEN BETTING PREVIEW FEATURING DAN ZAKSHESKE
2023 U.S. OPEN BETTING ODDS, COURSE PREVIEW, POWER RANKINGS: SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER, JON RAHM LEAD THE WAY
FOUR HORSEMEN FOR THE 2023 U.S. OPEN: CANTLAY, MORIKAWA, HIDEKI AND TOM KIM
U.S. OPEN 2023 HEAD-TO-HEADS, 3-BALL BETS: HATTON VS. RORY, HOVLAND-HOMA-SMITH
FIRST-ROUND LEADER LOOKS FOR U.S. OPEN 2023: SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER, JORDAN SPIETH
Check out the Hot Links golf gambling show hosted by Geoff Clark on the OutKick Bets podcast feed. New episodes drop Tuesdays for most full-field PGA Tour events in the 2022-23 season.
