Bright lights, big city, and a super test of golf at Los Angeles Country Club’s North Course.
123rd U.S. Open
Los Angeles Country Club
North Course
Los Angeles, California
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NOW PLAYING:
The 123rd U.S. Open returns to Los Angeles for the first time since 1948 when Ben Hogan won at Riviera CC.
The North Course at LACC has a similar, yet different feel than its cousin a few miles down the road.
Gil Hanse has restored this ultra-private piece of land to its 1920s original intent.
Bermuda rough returns for the first time since 2005, but this course is not going to reflect the traditional, parkland-style course usually on display. Winding thru the canyon, changing elevations, blind shots, Eucalyptus trees and interesting green complexes will test all of the and fire all of the senses. Read more here.
| Host Course | Los Angeles Country Club – North Course. |
| Yards (per official scorecard): | 7,423. |
| Par: | 70 (35-35). |
| Greens: | Pure Distinction Creeping Bentgrass. |
| Stimpmeter: | 13 feet/Championship speed. |
| Rough: | Tifway 2/Bandera Bermuda Grass beginning at three inches. |
| Bunkers/Water Hazards/In-Play | |
| Architect(s): | George C. Thomas (1927); Gil Hanse & Jim Wagner plus Geoff Shackelford (2010). |
| Purse (2022): | $17.5 million; $3.1 million winner plus 600 FedExCup points. |
| Defending Champion (event): | Matt Fitzpatrick. |
| Multiple Champion(s) Entered: | Brooks Koepka (2017, 2018). |
| Course Record (last): | 61; Max Homa 2013 PAC-12 Championships. |
| 72 Hole Tournament Record: | First time hosting. |
| Oldest Winner (event): | 45; Hale Irwin, 1990. |
| Youngest Winner (event): | 19; John J. McDermott, 1911. |
| Fact of the Week: | The last sectional qualifier to win was Lucas Glover in 2009. |
| Fact of the Week II: | Par 70 has 3, Par-5 holes and 5, Par-3 holes. |
| Fact of the Week III: | Only Ben Hogan, Curtis Strange and Brooks Koepka have successfully defended in the modern era. |
Notes:
- Field of 156 players contains 19 amateurs, 19 local qualifiers, 49 of the top 50 OWGR.
- Top SIXTY and ties will play the final 36 holes.
- First time at LACC North for a professional championship.
Season Winners
2022-2023 Season Winners
| Event | Winner |
| Fortinet Championship | Max Homa |
| Sanderson Farms Championship | Mackenzie Holmes |
| Shriners Children’s Open | Tom Kim |
| ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP | Keegan Bradley |
| CJ CUP at CONGAREE | Rory McIlroy |
| Butterfield Bermuda Championship | Seamus Power |
| Mayakoba Championship | Russell Henley |
| Cadence Bank Houston Open | Tony Finau |
| The RSM Classic | Adam Svensson (first TOUR win) |
| Sentry Tournament of Champions | Jon Rahm |
| Sony Open in Hawaii | Si Woo Kim |
| The AMERICAN EXPRESS | Jon Rahm (2) |
| Farmers Insurance Open | Max Homa (2) |
| AT&T Pebble Beach | Justin Rose |
| WM Phoenix Open | Scottie Scheffler |
| The Genesis Invitational | Jon Rahm (3) |
| The Honda Classic | Chris Kirk |
| Arnold Palmer Invitational | Kurt Kitayama (first TOUR win) |
| THE PLAYERS Championship | Scottie Scheffler (2) |
| Valspar Championship | Taylor Moore (first TOUR win) |
| Corales Puntacana | Matt Wallace (first TOUR win) |
| WGC – Dell Technologies MP | Sam Burns |
| Valero Texas Open | Corey Conners |
| Masters | Jon Rahm (4) |
| RBC Heritage | Matt Fitzpatrick |
| Zurich Classic of New Orleans | Davis Riley & Nick Hardy (first TOUR win for each) |
| Mexico Open at Vidanta | Tony Finau (2) |
| Wells Fargo Championship | Wyndham Clark (first TOUR win) |
| AT&T Byron Nelson | Jason Day |
| PGA Championship | Brooks Koepka |
| Charles Schwab Challenge | Emiliano Grillo |
| Memorial | Viktor Hovland |
| RBC Canadian Open | Nick Taylor |
Recent Winners – U.S. Open
Italics – not entered this week
| Year | Winner | Notes |
| 2022 | Matt Fitzpatrick (-6) | Backed up his U.S. Amateur victory at The Country Club with the BIG TROPHY. |
| 2021 | Jon Rahm (-6) | Birdied the final hole at Torrey Pines to win his second major championship. |
| 2020 | Bryson DeChambeau (-6) | Lapped the field by six shots at Winged Foot in September. |
| 2019 | Gary Woodland (-13) | Won by three over Koepka on a soft Pebble Beach. |
| 2018 | Brooks Koepka (+1) | Won at Shinnecock Hills to become just the third player to successfully defend. |
| 2017 | Brooks Koepka (-16) | Cruised to a four-shot victory to win his first major championship. |
| 2016 | Dustin Johnson (-4) | Three shot winner at Oakmont for his first major championship. |
| 2015 | Jordan Spieth (-5) | Outlasted Johnson by a shot to win his second major of the season (Masters) and first U.S. Open. |
| 2014 | Martin Kaymer (-9) | Backed up his PLAYERS Championship winning by EIGHT at Gil Hanse’s Pinehurst No. 2 restoration. |
| 2013 | Justin Rose (+1) | Won his first major championship at Merion by two shots. |
| 2012 | Webb Simpson (+1) | Won at Olympic Club for his first major championship. |
| 2011 | Rory McIlroy (-16) | Set the U.S. Open scoring record at soggy Congressional. |
This Week – 123rd U.S. Open
Chalk (via BetMGM)
Scottie Scheffler (+600): My only concern is the putter. Not the course set-up. Not the pressure. Not the moment. Stats are off the charts in every other category. Proven winner.
Jon Rahm (+1000): West Coast = best coast for the Spaniard. Winner four times this season including Riviera and Augusta National makes this a tough decision. Has anyone won Riviera, the Masters and the U.S. Open in the same season? Tiger never won at Riviera…
Brooks Koepka (+1100): Stone-cold killer shows up four weeks a year and this is one of them. PGA Championship winner last month reiterated that commitment. Include him.
Rory McIlroy (+1200): Didn’t waste any time this week with the media. Comfortable pairing late on Thursday with Brooks and Matsuyama.
Patrick Cantlay (+1600): Will look to become the seventh winner in the last eight U.S. Opens to pick up his first major championship. California native loves Bentgrass and Los Angeles. Third at Riviera earlier this year.
Viktor Hovland (+1600): Trends converging as he’s hit the top 10 in his last three majors and was a winner at the Memorial last time out. Not many go win-winmajor in consecutive starts.
Xander Schauffele (+1800): SoCal dude with a full bag and a perfect record in this competition. Worst finishes from seven tries are the last two years with T14 and T7. WORST FINISHES.
Jordan Spieth (+2500): PLENTY of room to work it off the tee should help. Creative and competitive juices should be flowing on a track where imagination might just trump the rest. Well, besides execution, that is. T5 at Memorial suggests his wrist situation isn’t dire. WIN ticket.
Cameron Smith (+2800): 2022 Open Champion is another who is happy it’s not 20 yard fairways surrounded by six inches of Bluegrass this week. If this appears to be a links-y challenge, check his major win from last summer.
Max Homa (+2800): Course record holder with 61 in 2013 at the PAC-12 Championships. Burbank born and raised. Riviera maestro. Majors haven’t clicked. Appears the stars are aligned. If you believed in Fitzpatrick last year, you must punt 28-1 this year!
Top 10/Top 20/Top 40
I’d be shocked if the winner does NOT come from the list above. Find other places on your ticket for these guys.
Dustin Johnson (+4000): Super Southland player. Check out his results at Riviera. Oh, and he’s almost 50% top 10 when he makes the cut at majors.
Rickie Fowler (+5000): Everyone keep quiet. Nothing to see here.
Adam Scott (+6600): Too many excellent results recently. All of the experience as well.
Sahith Theegala (+9000): Imagine being only 90-1 without ever winning on TOUR. Pepperdine is right up the street. Hasn’t missed in 18 straight on TOUR.
Harris English (+15000): Never MC in seven starts. Do what you need to do.
Sepp Straka (+17500): No problem banging it tee to green. Solid form as well with three straight T29 or better.
Adam Hadwin (+20000): Emotional weekend watching his countryman lift their national championship trophy. T12 on the course as well! Posted T7 last year as his best from three straight.
Longer Shots
Use ’em wherever you see fit! All players listed are +20000 or worse and are for a reason or two!
Andrew Putnam (+20000): His part of the world and his grass on the greens.
Justin Suh (+20000): For those of you who regularly read, this should come as ZERO surprise. Played at USC. Knows his way around.
Patrick Rodgers (+20000): Never MC in four tries including T31 the last two years. Six of his last seven on TOUR are T30 or better with a pair of top 10s.
Adam Schenk (+25000): New baby, big results (T7-P2 last two), lovely long shot.
Francesco Molinari (+50000): Move to LA a few years ago. Surely he’s snuck out ONCE!
Preston Summerhays (+150000): Plenty of pedigree, make the cut?
Last Week – RBC Canadian Open
Chalk (via BetMGM)
Rory McIlroy (+450): Glad I don’t write this until Wednesday. At this number, I wasn’t encouraged regardless, but after the events of this week, there’s no chance. Completely bummed out for our friends in Canada that their parade and national open has been shit upon again. Our friends in Canada threw a hell of a party last Sunday. McIlroy tied his shoe tighter and rattled off another top 10 (T9), his third in a row at the event and on TOUR.
Tyrrell Hatton (+1100): Number has dropped all week as his game continues to trend. Not much to nitpick in his bag and the results back that up. Fell one shot short of the playoff T3.
Matt Fitzpatrick (+1400): Wasn’t at his best last week but still found T9 at Memorial. I’d expect him to crank it up a gear this week before he defends his US Open title next week. T20.
Sam Burns (+1400): T4 on debut last year and returns this season in solid form. Colonial isn’t an easy test. He was T6 in defense. Super putter. MC.
Cameron Young (+1500): Remember, if you’re on him every week, you will be right at some point. Not a ton of room to swing it this week and that’s usually where he makes his hay. Five inches of rough won’t help if he’s not on it. Pass. T57 with zero rounds below 70. Hit it all over the shop.
Corey Conners (+1600): Hard to believe last year was his only top 10 in seven tries in his national open. Blows wonderfully hot and cold but there has been more heat than cool. Deserves a punt. Shared the first round lead on 67, but that was the highlight for the week. T20.
Justin Rose (+1600): Took last week off and should be ready to go. Veteran knows how to handle his business and has already won this season. Short track, like Colonial, has my attention. Solo eighth makes it two out of three in the top 10 and five straight T25 or better.
Shane Lowry (+1800): Old school greens and average green speeds should help regain some confidence with the flat stick. Playing out the fairway is his strength. Made 22 birdies and finished T43. Sloppy.
Tommy Fleetwood (+2000): He’s never won on TOUR. Or in the States. Not playing in the States this week. So there’s that. Lost in a playoff.
Top 10/Top 20/Top 40
Adam Hadwin (+5000): Last top 10 was in Scottsdale in February but has three top 10s in this event career. Rises to the moment. T12. Right church, wrong pew.
Adam Svensson (+5500): Odd that he’s better value than Hadwin as he’s won this season and has produced better results in 2013. MC.
David Lipsky (+8000): I know a heater when I see it! T12 last week after T16 at Colonial is absolutely solid golf. Time to go to the eye doctor. 75-75 MC, not even close.
Harry Hall (+8000): Big taste at Colonial. Top 40 should be on the cards this week. T34. BANG.
Lee Hodges (+8000): Trending over his last three on three difficult courses. T25.
Longer Shots
Use ’em wherever you see fit! All players listed are +10000 or worse and are for a reason or two!
Carson Young (+12500): All you can get. T43.
Chez Reavie (+15000): Won this event in 2008 and is steady tee to green. T25.
Grayson Murray (+20000): Winner on KFT recently in Knoxville. MC.
Austin Smotherman (+22500): T21 at Colonial plus T5 in Mexico bookends a couple of MC. T50.
Myles Creighton (+50000): Winner on PGA TOUR Latinoamerica. Make the cut, baby! MC.
OAD – 2023 Spotter’s Game
| Already Burned |
| Sungjae Im – Maui |
| Tom Kim – Sony |
| Tom Hoge – AMEX |
| Viktor Hovland – Pebble |
| Xander Schauffele – WMPO |
| Max Homa – Riviera |
| Shane Lowry – Honda |
| Tyrrell Hatton – API |
| Akshay Bhatia – PRO |
| Jason Day – THE PLAYERS |
| Justin Rose – Valspar |
| Cam Percy – Corales |
| Scottie Scheffler – WGC MP |
| Rickie Fowler – Valero |
| Jordan Spieth – Masters |
| Collin Morikawa – RBC Heritage |
| Billy Horschel – Zurich |
| Nicolai Hojgaard – Mexico |
| Rory McIlroy – WFC |
| Adam Scott – ATTBN |
| Brooks Koepka – PGA Championship |
| Chris Kirk – Colonial |
| Patrick Cantlay – Memorial |
| Matt Fitzpatrick – RBC CO |
This Week – 123rd U.S. Open
Jon Rahm
Already have burned all the big boys! That plan did not work. I hope Fleetwood wins The Open!
Last Week – RBC CO
Matt Fitzpatrick – T20
Looking to pull the RBC double after T9 last week at Memorial. Won’t be bothered with BIG ROUGH and has no problem making birdies. Pretty average week across the board. There’s no chance he knew I was on him, right?
Sam Burns – MC, Tommy Fleetwood – P2, Adam Svensson – MC
Glass Houses 