4 Potential 2023 US Open Sleepers, Longshot Picks In Golf Betting
The third Major Championship of the golf season begins Thursday, as a field of the best 156 golfers in the world will clash at Los Angeles Country Club for the 2023 U.S. Open. It should be a special week, as LACC truly embodies the characteristics of all four Majors with its length, wide open, undulating fairways, and tricky green-side complexes. The open fairways and absence of thick rough on property should result in a much different style of US Open than we’ve seen over the last five years. Like any other event though, I have scoured the best sports betting sites to find the largest potential payouts for U.S. Open longshots.
Most years, U.S. Open odds tend to play out with favorites bubbling to the top of the leaderboard. LACC is a fair test that will allow strategic ball strikers to think their way around as well. And save for a few amateur matches at the Pac-12 Championship and Walker Cup, the field at large with see a revamped Los Angeles Country Club for the first time since the 2010 restoration. Let’s look to dig for some diamonds in the rough for U.S. Open longshots.
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COURSE INTRODUCTION
As a 7,421 yard par-70, the Los Angeles Country Club scorecard is just as daunting as any other U.S. Open venue. It uniquely features five par-3s and just two par-5s, which limits the overall birdie opportunities to be had, and instead shifts the focus to bogey avoidance and all-around form from tee-to-green.
Notably, two par-3s will measure over 280 yards, while the closing three par-4s measure over 1,500 yards combined. Some elevation change and firm and sloping fairways will help the course play a bit shorter than the scorecard may suggest, but players will still need to lean on their creativity to navigate this course with many uneven fairway lies and tricky barranca hazards threatening throughout.
The U.S. Open is traditionally known to reward driving distance and elite long-iron play. In that regard, Los Angeles Country Club will offer a refreshing change of pace to that one dimensional approach, as an emphasis will instead shift to precision on this course, and the ability to hit small targets within these sloping fairways and greens. While all-around form is still at a premium, this change of pace creates more opportunity for longshots to contend.
For a deeper dive into the course, read my U.S. Open betting guide. Let’s get to our picks for 2023 U.S. Open longshots for your DFS lineups and betting cards.
4 POTENTIAL US OPEN LONGSHOTS TO CONSIDER
From a golf betting perspective, I’ve made the decision to go all in on Scottie Scheffler, which leaves no room for me to place other longshot bets. With that said, the names below still present value in the top-20 and top-40 placement markets.
In terms of DFS, there are not a ton of viable options in the low $6K range in this full field of 156, so I’ll instead look to concentrate my exposure to value players in the low $7K to high $6K range.
Below, find my favorite value PGA golf sleepers and longshots for the 2023 U.S. Open. Stats pulled across Last 36 Rounds unless otherwise noted.
Wyndham Clark (, $7,500)
There are few others who have turned a corner from mediocre journeyman to weekly contender as abruptly as Wyndham Clark has this 2023. And while it remains to be seen where Clark ultimately falls on this spectrum from one-year aberration (i.e. Harris English) to the real deal (i.e. Max Homa), this price is still a significant discount if Clark does in fact turn out to be the latter.
Like Homa, Clark picked up his first career victory in impressive fashion at the Wells Fargo Championship, dominating against one of the strongest fields of this season. It’s fair to say that player who is capable of dominating at Quail Hollow has the potential to play well at a U.S. Open, as you cannot fake it at either.
Approach play was the missing piece in Clark’s game heading into this season, and he’s now managed to flip that into his greatest strength. Gaining strokes on approach in each of his last 12 starts, Clark has climbed to No. 4 in SG: APP amongst this loaded field. Ranking No. 5 in SG: TOT over his last 36 rounds with just one missed cut in 2023, Clark has the well-rounded tee-to-green game needed to contend at LACC, even if his past history in majors hasn’t quite shown that yet.
Russell Henley (, $7,100)
Known best for giving away tournaments on Sundays, Russell Henley is probably not a name most people will flock to in the heightened atmosphere of a major championship. But be that as it may, it hasn’t deterred him from climbing up the leaderboard on the biggest stages anyway. A T4 finisher at the Masters earlier this season, Henley has a total of nine top-30 finishes between the U.S. Open and The Masters over his last 10 combined appearances. Henley’s best U.S. Open finish was a T13 at Torrey Pines in 2021, so he’ll return to California with some positive vibes to build from.
Los Angeles Country Club, with its wide and firm, undulating fairways and steep elevation changes, is the closest we’ve seen a U.S. Open venue compare to Augusta National in recent years, an encouraging sign for Henley who has shown such great consistency across both events.
LACC should allow shorter, more accurate hitters off the tee to hang with the bombers, as long as they can catch the right slots of these fairways. That sets up for a more appealing U.S. Open course than ever before for Henley’s game. He’ll enter in great form this year with five top-20s over his last six starts. While some may overlook him in a U.S. Open for his lack of distance, he has a clear path to a top-20 finish this week with his iron play alone.
Eric Cole (, $7,000)
The 35-year-old rookie continues to look sharp this season, and may have just put himself in the lead for 2023 Rookie of the Year with an impressive T6 finish at last week’s RBC Canadian Open. That marks Cole’s fifth top-25 finish over his last seven starts, which also includes a T15 at the PGA Championship.
The U.S. Open requires well-rounded form to hang around for four days, and Cole fits that profile better than any other player surrounding him in this price range, averaging nearly a full stroke gained in all four major categories (OTT, APP, ARG, and P) over his last five and 10 events. He is the No. 6 overall player in my model this week, and with proven success in majors and comp conditions to LACC, he is on a short list of value players I’ll be building my player pool around this week.
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Matt Kuchar (, $6,900)
This is an immediate fall from grace for Kuchar who just one week ago was a top-12 favorite at 40-1 odds to win the RBC Canadian Open against a respectable field. Even after a solid T20 showing, he’s still drifted to the very bottom of the U.S. Open odds board. Understandably, positioning off-the-tee is not nearly at the premium this week that we saw for Oakdale Golf & Country Club, but similar to the case for Henley, it’s still a very nice skillset to have at LACC.
Kuchar has turned back the clock a bit in 2023 with six top-25s over his first 12 starts of the year. He’s separated from fields with his short game, ranking top-20 in SG: Putting and top-5 in SG: ARG and Scrambling Gained. With difficult scoring conditions expected, an elite short game may be all Kuchar needs to hang around through the weekend. As evidence, he also ranks top-20 in SG: TOT (7,400+ Yard & Difficult Scoring Courses) and Bogey Avoidance. At $6,900 on DraftKings, Kuchar presents one of the highest floor options in his price range.
Best of luck if you choose to bet these U.S. Open longshots!
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Shop the sports betting odds for PGA TOUR golf sleepers and more highly-touted players across sportsbooks here. That includes top-10 and top-20 betting odds.
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