US Open / Paul Krishnamurty / 08 June 2009 / 1

You need a certain type of player on your side at the US Open as this, like no other major, rewards a particular kind of golfer. Paul Krishnamurty outlines three who could come through for a top-10 finish or even land the spoils.

Even though the US Open venue alternates each year between several different courses, this is one event where it is always easy to predict the type of skills required of the winner. The USGA always demand that conditions are at their toughest; with narrow fairways and penal rough. As it's played in June, unless there's an unseasonal downpour, the greens dry out quickly and become lightning fast over the weekend.

It demands a particular set of skills: relentless accuracy off the tee, a world-class short game and above all else, patience. Making par is just fine, and I suspect every player in the field would be delighted to post a level par total for 72 holes. Only Tiger Woods beat that total when the event was last held at this year's venue, Bethpage Black, seven years ago.

With such specific demands, it's no surprise that this major has always had a number of 'specialists'. In previous decades it was Payne Stewart, Curtis Strange and Hale Irwin, with seven titles and dozens of top-10s between them. More recently its been dual champions Ernie Els, Retief Goosen, four times runner-up Phil Mickelson and of course, Tiger, who won his third US Open last year.

All of those characters were usually vying for favouritism, but just as interesting for betting purposes are those tournament specialists slightly further down the list. For while this event usually produces a very high class leaderboard, there are others who consistently prosper in this format. Consider Jeff Maggert for instance, who split an otherwise elite top-four at Bethpage in 2002. Maggert, never much more than a middle-ranking PGA Tour journeyman, made the top-10 seven times in 11 US Opens between 1994 and 2004; a record that very few could rival.

Maggert is no longer a contender at this level, but in his absence, here are three similar short and steady types who tend to thrive in this event and have proved very reliable for place and match betting over the years.

Very few players have rewarded their supporters more frequently in this event than 'Mr Consistency' himself, Jim Furyk. Having contended more times than anyone can care to remember in majors and other prestigious events over the last decade, it is primarily Furyk's victory in the 2003 US Open that has enabled him to shed the 'nearly man' tag. With a little more luck, (some might say bottle), down the stretch, he could so easily have four or five majors to his name by now. Indeed, since that win in 2003 he's twice finished runner-up in the US Open, losing very narrowly in 2006 and 2007.

At the time of writing, Furyk has just been touched off down the stretch yet again; this time by Tiger in the Memorial Tournament. Nevertheless, while that record may deter punters from piling into the restricted [25.0] on offer to win this major for a second time, there's everything to suggest he can reward supporters in the top-five market again at around [6.6]. In 14 attempts, he's achieved that target five times.

Recent Colonial winner Steve Stricker can't boast quite such an impressive tournament portfolio, but that owes more to a long slump during the first half of this century than to any dislike for the demands of this major. In fact, it was at the 2006 US Open that Stricker took the first steps of what turned out to be a remarkable rehabilitation as a top-class golfer. Trading at the maximum of 1000.0 pre-tournament, Stricker led for a long way before settling for sixth place.

He also played better in 2007 than 13th place suggests; sharing the lead and favouritism at one stage during the final round before an untimely couple of disasters. Add in consecutive fifth places in 1998 and 1999, and it becomes clear that Stricker has been a strong contender in four of the last five US Opens that he has contested when his game wasn't in crisis.

Finally, if former Masters champion Mike Weir is ever to land a second major, this must be the likeliest one. His US Open record is a model of consistency, with seven top-20s from ten attempts. The Canadian left-hander has been a regular contender in recent years, with three top-six finishes in the last six years. Rather like Furyk, it seems that Weir possesses the combination of relentless accuracy plus world-class scrambling skills that are the perfect US Open ticket.

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1. Martyn Shoulder | 09 June 2009

   This photo on the right, is he really left handed? maybe Weir just got younger or am I getting older, good three picks though!

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