No one should have been surprised at Wyndham Clark’s play at Shinnecock Hills to win his second U.S. Open title. Clark has been one of the hottest players on the PGA Tour in the month of June, and he capped it off with his second major championship of his career.
Clark was also the rare wire-to-wire winner at a major tournament. The last player to accomplish that feat at a U.S. Open was Martin Kaymer at Pinehurst No. 2 in 2014. The last time the tour saw a wire-to-wire major champion was Brooks Koepka who dominated the field at the 2019 PGA Championship.
It might seem as if Clark had an easy run to victory, it was anything but smooth. Clark took advantage of the early-late tee time he was given for Rounds 1 and 2 and stormed to a dominant lead. However, on the weekend Clark’s progress stalled, and the field started to creep up to his leading stance.
Sunday saw Clark stumble, and players like Tom Kim and Sam Burns were withing closing distance down the stretch. Burns’s birdie putt on 18 which lipped out would have tied Clark with one hole to play, but it was Clark who made the necessary shots all tournament to win the United States Open.
Clark is now forced to turn his attention to a signature event, the Traveler’s Championship, this upcoming Sunday, but it is time to take a look back at our picks for the U.S. Open, and if we had any winners.
Let’s take a look at who was projected to be contending, based on pre-tournament odds.
2026 U.S. Open Odds
- Scottie Scheffler (+465)
- Rory McIlroy (+970)
- Jon Rahm (+1050)
- Xander Schauffele (+1700)
- Cameron Young (+2050)
- Matt Fitzpatrick (+2150)
When it came to picks for this event, I like to start with my favorite and long shot picks for the tournament. The favorite pick is the winner pick I like the most. For the long shot winner, that is a golfer who has over +2000 odds to win. It is a long shot pick for a reason, and finding those can be like finding a needle in a haystack.
Here are my favorite and long shot picks for the 2026 United States Open:
Favorite: Scottie Scheffler (+465) – MISS
Taking Scheffler to win a tournament is never a bad call, and with his odds increasing with each passing week it makes it more and more intriguing to pick Scheffler to win. However, he couldn’t make the necessary shots, mainly with the putter, to claim victory at Shinnecock Hills and complete the career grand slam.
Long Shot: Bryson DeChambeau (+2900) – MISS
DeChambeau’s game has seemingly fallen off a cliff this season. Just this year at the Masters DeChambeau entered the tournament just under +1000 odds. Now, he finds himself missing all three majors to date, and likely to be over +3000 at The Open Championship next month. DeChambeau seems distracted with his future, but his present golf certainly leaves a lot to be desired.
Top 5 Bets For The U.S. Open 2026
- Scottie Scheffler (+106) – HIT
When I saw Scheffler getting plus-odds to be a Top 5 finish, I felt it was a very safe play. Scheffler cashed out for us with a T4 finish at the tournament, and helps us get a much-needed victory.
Rahm had a great start to the tournament, but the proverbial wheels fell off Friday and he missed the cut. Rahm’s game had been trending in the right direction, but he took a big step backwards after not even making the weekend at the U.S. Open.
Top 10 Picks For The U.S. Open 2026
- Xander Schauffele (+154) – MISS
Schauffele had played great golf throughout the tournament, but he fell just one place short of cashing our Top 10 pick. His T11 finish was a big step forward for Xander, but unfortunately doesn’t get us a win.
- Cameron Young (+186) – MISS
Cameron Young might have been one of the hottest golfers on tour in the first third of the season, but his play has gotten ice cold since. Young’s T43 finish looks more like the player who could never win a big tournament than the one who won the Players Championship and the Cadillac signature event.
Top 20 Value Picks For The U.S. Open 2026
- Wyndham Clark (+150) – HIT
Clark has now been the hottest golfer on tour in June, and his major victory cements that simple detail. Clark gets us the win at +150, but we missed a ton of value not taking Clark to finish higher. Still, a win is a win.
- Patrick Reed (+158) – MISS
Reed, who had just slightly higher odds than Clark to be in the Top 20, was a player many thought would play well at Shinnecock. As Reed continues to wait to return to the PGA Tour, he struggled on Friday and missed the cut.
Best Prop Bets, Parlays And Bonus Plays For The 2026 U.S. Open
For bonus plays, these are picks which I don’t necessarily hang my hat on, but still provide value for some who want more exotic plays outside of the aforementioned picks. Sometimes bonus plays are parlays, double chances, triple chances, and even some fun plays for that particular event.
Here were the bonus plays for the 2026 U.S. Open:
Double Chance: Scottie Scheffler or Cameron Young (+360) – MISS
Big Guns vs. The Field: The Big Guns (+100) – MISS
LIV Golfers to Make the Cut: UNDER 5.5 (+110) – MISS
Top 20 Parlay: Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, Wyndham Clark (+360) – MISS
Tournament Review:
Outright Plays: 2/8
Bonus Plays: 0/4
