2026 US Open Golf Preview

We had a shock winner in the US PGA courtesy of the unheralded Englishman Aaron Rai. James Punt is on the case, check out his 2026 US Open Golf betting preview below.

2026 US Open Golf

The 126th US Open takes place at the famous Shinnecock Hill golf Club, New York State. This will the sixth time that the course has hosted the US Open.

The course is an inland links style course, said to have a very Scottish feel to it. It is a long, 7,440 yard par 70. It is rated as one of the hardest courses in America and, as with all US Open courses, it will be set up to be penal. Long rough and lots of it.

As with all links courses, wind is one of its main defences. It is fairly generous in terms of fairway width, but it is difficult to score. The last three US Opens held here had winning scores of level par, 4 under and 1 under.

A very long course, with a bit of room off the tee says that the big hitters should have the advantage this week.

Weather Watch

The weather forecast looks quite good, for the last three days at least. Thursday is set to see some blustery showers and cloudy. The rest of the weekend looks to be mostly warm and sunny with moderate winds, but on a exposed course, the wind will be a feature.

The defending champion is JJ Spaun, and he fitted the bill of a first-time major winner, which is common in the US Open. 13 of the last 17 US Open winners had never won a Major previously. We have two multiple winners in recent years. Brooks Koepka and Bryson de Chambeau have both won two US Open titles.

Brooks Koepka won the last time Shinnecock Hills hosted the US Open. He was the first player in 29 years to win back-to-back US Opens. His winning score was +1. Runner up was Tommy Fleetwood. Others in the top ten included Patrick Reed, Justin Rose, Tyrell Hatton and Xander Schauffele. Fleetwood finished like a train with a final round 7 under par 63 but came up one shot short.

So, it looks like we need a big hitter, who hasn’t won a major before and who has form on links courses.

2026 US Open Golf: Selections

As with most majors these days, the choice of e/w places on offer are a matter of personal choice. You can bet all the way down to the top 12, but the odds are smaller than if you go for a more traditional top 6 or 7 places. I will try and find a happy compromise of odds and places.

2026 US Open Golf Tip: 0.5 point e/w Chris Gotterup @ 41.00 with Betfred (e/w 1/5 the odds 1-8)

Still a very inexperienced player but he was 3rd in last year’s Open Championship at Royal Portrush (having won the Genisis Scottish Open the week before), which suggests that he can handle links style golf. More recently, he was T10th in the USPGA Championship.

Gotterup has picked up two PGA tour titles in 2026, one in Hawaii and the other in Texas, both courses known for windy conditions. He is ranked 4th for driving distance, so has the power hitting required for this monster. He grew up on the Atlantic coast so is used to playing in windy conditions. Three of his four titles have come on coastal courses.

2026 US Open Golf Tip: 0.5 point e/w Cameron Young @ 23.00 with Livescorebet (e/w 1/5 the odds 1-7)

A New York state native, Young was 4th in last year’s US Open and was 2nd in the 2022 Open Championship, and 8th in 2023, showing some good links golf pedigree. He has played a lot of recreational golf in Scotland so clearly, he likes his links golf.

Ranked 27th for driving distance and he also played a lot of coastal golf in his college days. Young has won three PGA titles, two this year, including the Players Championship which is known as the 5th Major (not actually a major).

2026 US Open Golf Tip: 0.5 point e/w Tommy Fleetwood @ 21.00 with Betfred (e/w 1/5 the odds 1-8)

Still looking for his first Major title and if he is going to get one, a links style course might his best chance. Brought up on the Lancashire coast, he knows how to play links golf.

Missed the cut at the USPGA Championship but he had top 5 finishes either side of it, and was 11th in Canada last weekend. Fleetwood isn’t the longest off the tee but still averages over 300 yards, so he’s hardly short. He was runner up on this very course in the 2018 US Open, was 4th in the 2017 US Open and runner up in the 2019 Open Championship.

2026 US Open Golf Tip: 0.5 point e/w Russell Henley @ 36.00 with Livescorebet (e/w 1/5th the odds 1-7)

Henley is not a big hitter, but he did finish T25 here in 2018, so he can play the course. What he lacks in distance, he makes up for in accuracy, ranked first for driving accuracy. Keeping out of the rough will bring its own rewards.

Won the Charles Schwab Challenge three weeks ago. Not only is he very accurate off the tee, he is ranked 1st for scrambling and that will be handy around these relatively small greens. Henley is ranked 2nd for bogey avoidance and on a course that is going to be very tough, avoiding bogies will be worth much gold.

Henley has finished top 10 in the last two Open Championships, was 3rd in this year’s Masters and has finished 14/7/10 in the last three US Opens.

-JamesPunt