US Open 2025 preview: betting tips, key stats and golfers to watch at Oakmont

US Open 2025 betting tips, key stats and golfers to watch at Oakmont

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A star-studded field will descend on Pennsylvania later this month to compete in the 125th iteration of golf’s US Open. The tournament will be hosted by Oakmont Country Club for a record 10th time – a venue that has earned infamy for its narrow fairways, rapid greens and challenging layout.

Ahead of the action, we’ve analysed the course trends, key stats and bookmakers’ markets to build an info-packed betting guide for the 2025 US Open at Oakmont, complete with a trio of betting tips to consider before tee off.

Conquering Oakmont: taking on “The Beast”

Playing at Oakmont is no picnic. Nicknamed “The Beast”, the course can be a real headache with long holes, a bucketload of bunkers, punishing rough and zippy greens combining to cause trouble.

Current US Open champion, Bryson Dechambeau, gave his take on the course after a recent run around Oakmont saying:

“It wasn’t designed to be fair, it was designed to be feared. This course doesn’t just challenge your game, it challenges your sanity.”

The toughness of the course lends itself to unpredictability, however, some definite patterns and trends still exist.

Accuracy off the tee

Oakmont is known for its pencil-thin fairways and thick rough, so players equipped with the best accuracy off the tee are likely to reap rewards.

The statistics show that in the last four US Opens, 70% of strokes gained/off the tee were from accuracy instead of distance, so players like Russell Henley, Collin Morikawa and Aaron Rai – who have been gaining 1.5+ shots per round off the tee this year – could put their accuracy to good use again at Oakmont.

Approach play: 125+ yards

There has been a noticeable correlation between approach play outside 125 yards and overall success at the US Open in recent years.

An analysis of the top finishers in the last four US Opens shows that around 70% of their strokes gained came from tee shots or from approaches from 125+ yards.

Oakmont offers an array of lengthy approach opportunities, which should favour the likes of Scottie Scheffler and recent Masters winner, Rory McIlroy.

Precision putting

Oakmont’s greens will be slick and speedy this year and players equipped with elite distance control and high putting conversion rates from six feet or less should have the edge.

According to the green speed measuring tool – the Stimpmeter – Oakmont scores a lofty 13, which is a severe step up from an average score of nine or 10.

Players like Ludvig Åberg and Harris English have performed well on greens rated 13 or above over the last five years, and their putting prowess should come in useful again at Oakmont.

US Open 2025 at Oakmont: betting tips and predictions

The favourite: Scott Scheffler – 11/4

Current world number one, Scott Scheffler, has earned plenty of backing on the best golf betting sites ahead of tee-off at Oakmont, and it’s easy to see why the 28-year-old has been tipped for glory in Pennsylvania.

Following his success at the Memorial Tournament, Scheffler has now won three of his last four tournaments by a combined 17 shots.

That’s red-hot form by anyone’s standards, however, Scheffler doesn’t offer a ton of value at a money line price of +275, while his driving at Quail Hollow last time out was erratic enough to suggest he might struggle at the more demanding Oakmont.

The dark horse: Ludvig Åberg – 22/1

Sweden’s Ludvig Åberg cropped up time and time again in favourable positions when I was running the numbers for strokes gained tee-to-green in the categories above, so the 25-year-old could have the right skill set to perform above his prices at Oakmont.

Åberg has already won a signature event (Genesis Invitational) in 2025 at a previous US Open venue at the tricky Torrey Pines Golf Course, while his 7th-place finish at the Masters in April provided more evidence to suggest he is on the right path to enjoy major championship success soon.

The longshot with potential: Harris English – 100/1

Harris English will arrive in Pennsylvania on the back of some excellent form and looks seriously overpriced to do some damage at Oakmont, even as an each-way prospect.

In nine previous appearances at this event, English has never missed the cut. The 35-year-old Georgia native finished as runner-up behind Scottie Scheffler at last month’s PGA Championship and he has all the characteristics you’d want from a player stepping out at Oakmont.

English ranks 29th on Tour in Total Driving, 62nd for GIR (Green In Regulation), and 20th in Strokes Gained: Putting and alongside winning the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines in January, he has been a consistent top 20 finisher.

English also had a third, a fourth and an eighth-placed finishes in the last five US Opens and he could be a worthwhile flutter here at a stellar price in Pennsylvania.

Simon Winter is an Irish sports journalist and betting specialist with a decade of experience in the industry. As a multi-sport enthusiast, he has produced content and tips for dozens of different sporting disciplines over the past ten years or so. Simon first started his journalistic journey as a football blog hobbyist around 2010, though his pastime soon blossomed into a career and he has had work published by the likes of Racing Post, Bloomberg Sports and FST since as well as many of the biggest brands in bookmaking. He is an avid supporter of Manchester United in England’s Premier League and of his local club, Wexford FC, in Ireland. Away from his professional life, Simon is a notorious bookworm, a keen amateur gardener and garage gym enthusiast.
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