US Open Golf 2024 Betting Tips: Three specials for Pinehurst

Jamie Worsley has already given us his US Open Preview but he's also picked out angles on three players who he expects to perform in the Betfred specials markets. Here are his US Open Golf Betting Tips.... 

The 124^th US Open begins at Pinehurst No. 2 in two days and with the first-round leader preview to come tomorrow, I have first taken a look at the side markets for our third major of the year.

I’ve come up with three selections that made plenty of appeal outright, though I just couldn’t quite see them winning this week and they look like more attractive propositions in these markets instead.

3 pts Christiaan Bezuidenhout Top African @ 7/4

First up is Christiaan Bezuidenhout, whose excellent approach play and short game should bode well for this week’s harsh examination, making him the standout of the four South African players in the field.

Bezuidenhout is arguably playing the best golf of his career thus far in 2024. He began the year with a runner-up finish in The AmEx and has hit the top-25 10 times in 16 starts overall. Arriving here in excellent form, he finished 3^rd on his solo DPWT start of the year in Japan five starts ago and last week, he was an impressive 4^th in the Memorial Tournament.

He was strong across the board there, ranking 6^th tee-to-green and 17^th in putting. This was a continuation of the stuff he’s been producing on tour all season, ranking 12^th in strokes-gained total; especially excelling on the greens, ranking 8^th but he also ranks high in approach – where he stands out from 175-200 yards, key this week - and around-the-greens. As the third-best par 4 scorer and ranking 18^th in bogey avoidance, his game looks a great match for this test.

Whilst he hasn’t managed to hit the top of the leaderboard in majors, he does generally play solidly, making nine of his 14 cuts in these premier events. This includes in each of his previous US Open appearances in 2020 and 2021.

This market includes LIV’s Dean Burmester, two-time PGA Tour winner, Erik Van Rooyen and the talented but inexperienced Casey Jarvis. It will be somewhat of a baptism of fire for Jarvis on his major debut and it’s hard to see him making too much of a splash with recent DPWT performances underwhelming, whilst Erik Van Rooyen isn’t hitting his irons as well as he was at the end of last year/begging of this, and may struggle around these tough greens.

I believe this will come down to Christiaan and Dean Burmester, and though the big-hitter comes into this after a 12^th-place finish at the PGA Championship on his last major start, he will have definitely been aided by the softer conditions there at Valhalla. With Bezuidenhout the best player across the most important areas this week, I fancy him to have the beating of his compatriots in North Carolina.

2.5 pts Min Woo Lee Top 20 @ 23/10

Min Woo Lee has performed well in each of his two previous US Open appearances and I fancy this electric short-game player to do so again this week.

The Aussie has had a good start to his rookie season on the PGA Tour, missing just one cut in 11 starts and recording five top-25 finishes, the best of which came when 2^nd in the Cognizant Classic at PGA National. He’s finished no worse than 26^th across each of his last four starts, which includes both of the first two majors of the season.

The driver has done most of the heavy lifting, ranking 10^th on the PGA Tour this season, whilst we are yet to see that short game that often shone on the DPWT at its very best. Approach play is his biggest weakness, but he has been solid over those four most recent starts and it is worth noting that his approach numbers are skewed by a less-than-average wedge game. That won’t be as much of a concern this week and as one of the best long iron players on tour, ranking 10^th from 175-200 yards and 28^th in 200yds+, Pinehurst looks a good fit.

Min Woo has missed just three cuts in 11 major starts to date and finished inside the top-30 on seven of those. He made his US Open debut in 2022, finishing 27^th and recorded his best major finish yet in this event last year, finishing 5^th in L.A. Growing up playing plenty of amateur golf in the Sandbelt region of Australia, he should find much of Pinehurst familiar and can rely on those familiarities to produce another quality US Open performance.

2 pts Alex Noren Top 20 @ 3/1

There are few golfers playing more consistent golf than Alex Noren this year, and while I found it difficult to believe it was enough to turn the 41-year-old Swede into a major champion this week, it can certainly take him to a US Open best at Pinehurst.

Noren has played 14 times in 2024 and hit the top-25 on 10 occasions, recording his solo missed cut in the Canadian Open two starts ago. He has only managed to turn one of those into a top-5, when 3^rd in the CJ CUP Byron Nelson, which is one of the reasons why the top-20 market made much more appeal for him here.

This level of consistency sees him rank 4^th on the PGA Tour in strokes-gained total this season. He especially excels around-the-greens, ranking 9^th and has been strong in approach, ranking 26^th. When added to him sitting inside the top-5 in greens-in-regulation, bogey avoidance and par 4 scoring, he has an extremely taking set of stats for this challenge.

Noren has made just three cuts in 10 US Open appearances, recording top-25s in 2020 and 2018. His skillset warrants a much better record in these events than that and playing some of the best golf of his career so far this year, I expect him to produce his highest ever US Open finish at a suitable course this week.

You can find all Jamie's latest Golf Betting Tips over on our dedicated golf Insights hub.