U.S. Open Props: What Country Will Winner Hail From?

An American has won the U.S. Open the past two years. (AP Images)

There are dozens of options available on Bodog’s golf props for the United States Open, which begins Thursday at historic Pebble Beach. But in this blog let’s focus on which country the winner will come from and that prop.

An American winning America’s Open is the big favorite at Bodog at -110, and that’s how it should be. That’s not me being a homer but the stats bear it out: a U.S.-born player has won this tournament a whopping 80 times (divided up among 55 actual champions). The next closest country is Scotland with 13 victories.

Starting in 1946 when the U.S. Open resumed after World War II caused it to go on hiatus for four years, a non-American has won this tournament only 10 times. The country mainly responsible was South Africa with four wins: Ernie Els in 1994 and ’97 and Retief Goosen in 2001 and ’04. South Africa is a part of the rest of the world (non-Europe or Australasia) at Bodog’s golf odds at +400. Your best options to win among the “rest of the world” are probably Els, Goosen, Tim Clark, Vijay Singh (although he has been struggling), Camilo Villegas and Argentina’s Angel Cabrera, the 2007 champion at Oakmont.

A European winner is the second-favorite on Bodog’s golf odds at +220, and that means you are wagering on the likes of Rory McIlroy, Lee Westwood (the hottest golf in the world this year and entering off a victory), Padraig Harrington, Luke Donald and Paul Casey. Obviously there are others in the field, but those are the European betting favorites.

An Australasian winner is the long shot at +1200, and it should be. This category has totaled only three U.S. Open victories, although two of them came back-to-back in 2005 (New Zealand’s Michael Campbell) and ’06 (Aussie Geoff Ogilvy). A player from Asia has never won this tournament. If you were to roll the dice here you are basically putting your faith in Ogilvy, Adam Scott, Robert Allenby, K.J. Choi and defending PGA Championship winner Y.E. Yang.

The Americans obviously have the two favorites in Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson. But guys like Jim Furyk (2003 champ), Steve Stricker, Ben Crane and Dustin Johnson (won past two years at Pebble) all would seem to have a shot. I wouldn’t expect much from defending U.S. Open champion Lucas Glover.

I happen to think your best bet here is on the “rest of the world” at +400.

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