Golf best bets: 3 top props for the U.S. Open

The 2024 U.S. Open is set to begin on Thursday morning, and although most of the golf world has already handed Scottie Scheffler the trophy (us included), there are still valuable bets to be made on the other 155 players in the field. Let's go through some of them and target our three favorite props for the U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2. 

Alex Noren top-30 finish (+150 DraftKings)

What skills make up a great U.S. Open player? Well, you need to stay out of trouble off the tee, control your distances well to hit the middle of the green consistently and be able to scramble your butt off from awkward spots to save par.

Check, check and check for Alex Noren.

This season, Noren ranks 36th on the PGA Tour in distance from edge of fairway, fifth in greens in regulation percentage, first in scrambling and third in bogey avoidance. Only Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele are limiting bogeys at a better rate than Noren. The Swede has also been incredibly consistent with nine top-25 finishes in his last 10 starts.

We wouldn't touch Noren with an outright ticket, but he can utilize his solid all-around game to par Pinehurst No. 2 to death. 

Tommy Fleetwood top-10 finish (+300 FanDuel)

Is this the week Tommy Fleetwood finally breaks through to win on U.S. soil? Probably not, but we do like him to contend on a brutally tough golf course. 

Fleetwood has a great track record in U.S. Opens because he hits a ton of fairways and avoids blow-up holes better than most players. The Englishman ranks third on Tour this season in driving accuracy, 10th in scrambling, eighth in bogey avoidance and 11th in putting from inside 10 feet. He's missed only one cut in 14 worldwide starts this year and has four top-10 finishes to his name.

Fleetwood isn't normally a good bet at birdie fests. He feels much more comfortable on the toughest courses because he knows how to play boring golf and scramble his way out of tough spots.