Rory McIlroy is riding a wave of momentum — and support — heading into this week’s U.S. Open at The Country Club in Brookline, Mass.
McIlroy is coming off a victory at the RBC Canadian Open. It was the Northern Irishman’s first successful title defense on the PGA Tour and launched him to No. 3 in the Official World Golf Ranking — the highest he has been since after the 2020 PGA Championship.
It was a breakthrough after several months of quality golf that saw McIlroy post four top-10 results in his past five starts and six in 11 worldwide starts this season.
McIlroy, who won the U.S. Open in 2011, is seeking his first major title since the 2014 PGA Championship. He is the +1000 favorite to win this week at DraftKings and is being offered at +1100 by BetMGM.
The short odds have led to relatively modest action on McIlroy, however.
He is fourth at DraftKings with 6.8 percent of the winning handle. That’s behind Jordan Spieth (+2800), who has drawn 9.0 percent of the handle, Will Zalatoris (7.6 percent at +3000) and Sam Burns (6.9 percent at +3000).
World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler has been the most popular wager at BetMGM, where he has been backed by 6.6 percent of the total bets and 9.4 percent of the handle as his odds have shortened to +1400. That far out-paces Zalatoris, who has been supported by 5.4 and 4.1 percent of the action, respectively, at +2500.
Scheffler is the biggest current liability at BetMGM. Next is Collin Morikawa, who opened at +2200 but is now +2800 with 5.0 percent of the bets and 7.3 percent of the handle backing him. Third is Australia’s Cameron Smith, who has drawn 6.2 percent of the handle as his odds have shortened from +5000 to +2200.
Justin Thomas, who finished four shots behind McIlroy in Canada, has the second-shortest odds at both sportsbooks as he is +1100 at DraftKings and +1200 at BetMGM. He has drawn 5.2 percent of the bets and 4.7 percent of the handle at DraftKings and 4.5 and 5.7 percent, respectively, at BetMGM.
Reigning U.S. Open champion Jon Rahm enters the week ranked second in the world and with a victory earlier this year in Mexico. He’s being offered at +1200 at DraftKings and +1400 at BetMGM, where he opened as the +1000 favorite.
–Field Level Media