Steve Palmer's US Open Prediction and Tips

The top 47 players in the world headline a field of 156 which has assembled at Shinnecock Hills this week for the third Major of the season - the US Open - and the Racing Post’s Steve Palmer has three selections to follow.

Scottie Scheffler is 6/1 favourite for the US Open - a tournament in which he could complete a career Grand Slam of Majors. The world number one has already got the Masters, the US PGA and the Open titles on his glorious CV, so the US Open is the missing piece of his jigsaw.

Scheffler turns 30 on Sunday, so he could be in for an incredible day in front of the notoriously boisterous New York galleries. He has won only one tournament this season, though, and finished 12th of 72 runners in the Memorial last time out.

Making his Shinnecock debut, Scheffler will be under great pressure in the most severe mental examination of the year, and his relationship with caddie Ted Scott will come under scrutiny. The pair had some ugly spats during the Memorial and Scheffler has been struggling to control his temper.

Rory McIlroy has been in a better mood, having won the Masters for a second time in April, but wild driving has been holding the Northern Irishman back. He opened with a 10-over-par round of 80 at Shinnecock in the 2018 US Open and missed the cut by two shots, so McIlroy will probably start the week with some trepidation. He is 11/1 to win a second US Open title.

Jon Rahm, who has won two LIV titles this season and finished second four times, was runner-up in the US PGA a month ago and gets a 12/1 quote to go one better in New York this week. The Spaniard teed off as world number five in the 2018 US Open at Shinnecock and missed the cut by seven shots.

The action starts at 11:35 BST on Thursday. A windy first round is forecast.

US Open Tips Summary

Best Bet - Tommy Fleetwood to win and each-way @ 18/1
Alternative Bet - Xander Schauffele to win and each-way @ 18/1
Alternative Bet - Viktor Hovland to win and each-way @ 45/1

US Open Prediction

Best Bet: Tommy Fleetwood each-way @ 18/1

A final-round 63 in the 2018 US Open at Shinnecock was almost enough for Tommy Fleetwood to become a Major champion, but this phenomenal ball-striker gets another bite of the cherry at the same venue eight years later.

Fleetwood fell one shot shy of Brooks Koepka in 2018, but the popular Englishman is playing well enough to have high hopes of going one place better on Sunday. 

Shinnecock is an ideal layout for a player who is exceptionally good at controlling his ball on windswept links.

Shinnecock is not a pure links test - it is an inland links - but fast-running fairways, humps and hollows, deep bunkers and fescue rough make it play like the sort of track Fleetwood relishes. Wind is forecast throughout the tournament, which helps his cause.

The Southport man has finished in the top five in the US Open three times. Fourth place in the Memorial was followed by 11th spot in Canada last week and Fleetwood has arrived with his A-game.

Alternative Bet: Xander Schauffele each-way @ 18/1

Short-game woes have stopped Xander Schauffele from winning on the PGA Tour this season, but he is hitting his ball with great authority, so the extreme tee-to-green examination of Shinnecock provides a chance for the two-time Major champion to shine.

Schauffele's US Open record is amazing, with full form figures of 5-6-3-5-7-14-10-7-12, and he can boast 19 top-10s from 36 Major starts. Expect this gritty customer to thrive in this unique assignment again.

Alternative Bet: Viktor Hovland each-way @ 45/1

Weekend rounds of 64 and 65 in the Canadian Open have sent Viktor Hovland to Shinnecock in high spirits. He finished third and topped the strokes-gained on approach statistics.

His driving was accurate in Canada and he putted well, so it was an ideal US Open warm-up spin. Hovland finished third in last year's US Open and will expect to be in the mix again this time.

Key US Open Stats

• Shinnecock Hills is a 7,440-yard, par-70, with two par-fives.

• A field of 156 players is going to post and the top 60 and ties make the halfway cut.

• The world's top 47 players are in the US Open field.

• There is only one course winner in the field - 2018 champion Brooks Koepka.

• Eight of the last 10 US Opens were won by a first-time Major winner.

• A $4.3m cheque will be going to the US Open winner on Sunday.

Read more golf betting tips and predictions on site.

This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.