Golf’s best will soon descend upon Los Angeles Country Club for the 2023 U.S. Open.
The third golf major of 2023 will take place at LACC’s North Course, which was originally designed by George C. Thomas and William P. Bell. However, in order to modernize the course, famed architects Gil Hanse, Jim Wagner and Geoff Shackleford restored the course back in 2010.
That redesign proved to be a driving force in the USGA awarding its national championship to LACC. This is the third time in the last five years that the U.S. Open will take place in California.
As it stands, here are the top 25 players on the current odds board to win this event.
The following golf betting odds come courtesy of BetMGM Sportsbook and are subject change:
- Scottie Scheffler: +750
- Jon Rahm: +900
- Rory McIlroy: +1100
- Brooks Koepka: +1100
- Patrick Cantlay: +1600
- Viktor Hovland: +1800
- Xander Schauffele: +2000
- Collin Morikawa: +2200
- Justin Thomas: +2200
- Max Homa: +2200
- Cameron Smith: +2500
- Jordan Spieth: +2500
- Tony Finau: +2800
- Dustin Johnson: +3300
- Matt Fitzpatrick: +3300
- Hideki Matsuyama: +3300
- Shane Lowry: +3300
- Bryson DeChambeau: +4000
- Cameron Young: +4000
- Jason Day: +4000
- Sungjae Im: +4000
- Sam Burns: +4500
- Corey Conners: +5000
- Justin Rose: +5000
- Tommy Fleetwood: +5000
Los Angeles Country Club (North Course) Course Facts
Players will require lots of distance in order to excel at this track, which shows similar traits to Riviera Country Club and Augusta National Golf Club.
According to the scorecard, LACC’s North Course measures 7,530 yards, or more than 300 yards longer than last year’s host venue—the Country Club. In good news for players, the fairways aren’t nearly as narrow as a traditional U.S. Open setup, but it still requires sharp accuracy off-the-tee for preferred sightlines on approach.
Approach play will likely prove to be the deciding factor in this year’s championship, especially when you consider the smaller-than-average greens with run-offs forcing elite precision. Take in one of the course flyover videos and you’ll notice that the greens feature precise landing areas.
For bettors, it will be wise to not only evaluate players’ full SG: Approach metrics, but also their proximity to the holes from long distances, notably anything extending beyond 200 yards.
In terms of each hole type, LACC’s North Course is a par-70 featuring three par-5s, five par-3s and 10 par-4s.
Only two of the par-5s are truly “scorable”—Nos. 1 and 8. The first hole measures 575 yards while the eighth measures 537, making those two holes obvious targets for players.
In terms of the five par-3s, they range in difficulty with a wide gap between the shortest and longest holes. For example, hole No. 7 measures 284 yards on the scorecard while hole No. 15 stretches only 124 yards.
All told, those five holes carry an average distance of 219.4 yards with a majority measuring 220 yards or more.
Finally, the par-4s account for the bulk of the course length. Those 10 holes average out to 457.6 yards with an absolutely brutal stretch of holes to close the round.
On the scorecard, holes No. 16, 17 and 18 all measure more than 490 yards with the trio combining for an average distance of 518 yards. In fact, the par-4 16th is longer than the par-5 seventh hole.
Accordingly, how players perform on those holes will prove paramount in deciding the champion.
2023 U.S. Open Key Stats
- Strokes-Gained: Tee-to-Green
- Strokes-Gained: Approach
- Proximity: 200+ yards
- Opportunities Gained
- Bogey Avoidance
- Par 3 Efficiency
- Par 3 Efficiency: 200+ yards
- Par 4 Efficiency
- Par 4 Efficiency: 450-500 yards & 500+ yards
U.S. Open Best Bet No. 1: Jon Rahm (+900)
Rahm’s form has dipped in recent events since winning the Masters to T50 at the PGA Championship and T16 at the Memorial Tournament, but we’re not about to overreact.
In his two events prior to his Masters victory, the Spaniard finished T39 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and T31 at the Dell Match Play.
Given his form at relevant courses, Rahm should excel at LACC. He won at Kapalua’s Plantation Course, Riviera Country Club and Augusta National, all of which correlate to LACC’s North Course. At those three courses last year, he finished second, T21 and T27, respectively.
Plus, one track we know where Rahm excels is Torrey Pines, which shows some similar traits to LACC. Including his win there at the 2021 U.S. Open, Rahm owns four straight top-10 finishes at that track.
Dive deeper into Rahm’s underlying stats this year and there’s further encouraging data with the two-time major winner.
This season, Rahm rates third on tour in both SG: T2G and SG: APP while sitting seventh in total driving, per pgatour.com. Additionally, Rahm sits first in par-3 scoring average and fourth in par-4 scoring average.
Rahm has also proved outstanding at avoiding negative scores. This season, he ranks first in birdies or better gained and seventh in bogey avoidance, again per pgatour.com.
With those metrics in mind, Rahm is worth the risk at +900 odds.
U.S. Open Best Bet No. 2: Max Homa (+2200)
Homa’s major record leaves a lot to be desired—he owns one top-40 finish in his last six major appearances—but he does have a great record in California.
The UC Berkeley product won the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines this year before finishing second to Rahm at Riviera Country Club. He is also a former winner at the Thomas design, winning the latter event in 2020.
Plus, while it wasn’t technically at a correlative course, Homa’s best finish in a major came at the 2022 PGA. Considering that it took place at another long, par-70 setup, that helps quell some concerns about the six-time PGA Tour winner.
In terms of the underlying statistics, Homa shows similar characteristics to Rahm. His biggest weakness—71st in SG: OTT—will be mitigated at a course with wide-open fairways and allow him to focus on quality approach play (Homa sits 12th on approach this season).
Homa simultaneously ranks ninth in par-4 scoring efficiency and second in par-3 efficiency. While a 27th-placed rating in bogey avoidance could use improvement, the emphasis on par-4 scoring at this event helps shrink the concern there.
Finally, Homa is excellent with his long irons, which is unquestionably needed at LACC. As of this writing, Homa is 22nd in proximity from 200-225 yards and 26th from 225-250 yards.
Given those trends, we’ll take a shot on Homa eclipsing his past major results and earning a strong finish that hopefully leads to a win.