I love betting the major golf events. Sportsbooks will offer more matchups, props and odds than for any other PGA tournament and we get to fire away at their mistakes. However, I will proceed with caution for this week's U.S. Open, due to the course.
Chambers Bay is a British Open-links style golf course that is so different from any other U.S. Open venue that luck may have more to do with winning and cashing tickets than strategic handicapping. Why? It's the hard, bouncing fairways, the enormous, undulating greens that are running at 13 on the Stimpmeter, sand dunes and deep bunkers that require a ladder to enter and par 4s that measure 546, 537 and 534 yards respectively, making them the longest in U.S. Open history. And here's my favorite quirky note about Chambers Bay: it has sloped, uneven tee boxes!
The course can be set up to 7,827 yards max and a par-72 layout, or 7,200 yards and a par-70 track. It will be interesting to watch and round-by-round matchups as the tournament progresses might be the best bets of the week.
What kind of golfer can win this major?