OAKMONT, Pa. – The best player in the world blinked on Thursday, and now things are wide open heading into the second round of the 125th U.S. Open.

Fresh off his PGA Championship victory last month, and with three wins in his last four starts overall, Scottie Scheffler (deservedly) received a lion’s share of attention from bettors entering this week’s event at Oakmont Country Club. His pre-tournament odds at FanDuel Sportsbook (+280) were the lowest for any player at a major since Tiger Woods at the 2009 PGA Championship. Oddsmakers at ESPN BET received more money on Scheffler than the other 155 players in the field – combined.

Scheffler began his round in typical Scottie fashion, rolling in a birdie on the second hole, but from there he had some uncharacteristic wobbles: Six bogeys over his next 13 holes, to be exact.

It added up to a 3-over 73 that left Scheffler seven shots off the pace set by J.J. Spaun and on the wrong side of a recent trend, as 24 of the last 26 U.S. Open winners have been inside the top 20 (plus ties) after the opening round.

Thanks in large part to the preponderance of money wagered on him before the tournament started, Scheffler remains among the in-play betting favorite at Oakmont – but it’s a much tighter race now, and he has ceded the top spot to two-time major winner Jon Rahm:

Updated odds to win U.S. Open (via FanDuel)

• +550: Jon Rahm
• +650: Scottie Scheffler
• +1200: J.J. Spaun, Brooks Koepka
• +1400: Collin Morikawa
• +1600: Bryson DeChambeau
• +1800: Si Woo Kim
• +2200: Ben Griffin, Sungjae Im
• +2500: Jordan Spieth

Scheffler still has the firepower to forge a comeback, but his preferred method in majors is to get out to a lead and wait for contenders to fall by the wayside – as he demonstrated a few weeks ago at Quail Hollow. Rahm, a winner in 2021 at Torrey Pines who opened with a 1-under 69, briefly battled with Scheffler down the stretch at the PGA Championship before succumbing to the "Green Mile."

The two men have five majors between them and spent a two-year window handing the green jacket to one another in Augusta. But with conditions at Oakmont still expected to firm up before potential weekend rain, the volatility of the year’s third major has only just begun.

For bettors, that means looking down the odds board to unearth some value within in-play markets.

Viktor Hovland to win (+3500)

See if you can help spot the outlier: third in Strokes Gained: Approach, sixth in SG: Off-the-Tee … 147th in SG: Putting.

That was Hovland’s opening-round stat line, a 1-over 71 that could have been so much better. He had a stretch of three straight holes from Nos. 9-11, where every approach nestled within 3 feet of the hole, but he still made six bogeys and needed 33 putts. His stats would have been even worse had he not ended with a 35-foot birdie make on No. 18 to build momentum for the morning.

Hovland’s best major finishes have come in the PGA Championship, but he was low amateur at the 2019 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach. A winner earlier this year at the Valspar Championship, he’s become something of a high-ceiling investment where it’s tough to predict when the tide will ebb or flow. His ball-striking in the opener, though, is enough to turn heads – and merit some attention at this price, not far off his +5500 opener.

Ben Griffin top-five finish (+400)

If Scheffler is spinning his wheels, are we living in a world where Griffin is the hottest player on TOUR? Twice a winner since April, and having contended at Muirfield Village, he opened with a 1-under 69 to sit three shots off the lead. Griffin was positive in all four Strokes Gained categories, keeping it in red figures despite hitting only seven fairways and 10 greens in regulation.

There’s no denying that Griffin has made a leap in his perception on TOUR this year, and that ascent could continue with three more rounds like today’s effort. A maiden major still feels a touch aggressive, with his overnight price of +2200, but getting 4-to-1 on a return for him to stay on the first page of the leaderboard come Sunday is worth a shot.

Griffin is solid in all areas, both for the season and in the opening round, and if that trend continues, he’ll cash a few tickets even if he doesn’t lift the trophy.

Denny McCarthy top-10 finish (+330)

McCarthy closed with two straight birdies to polish off a solid even-par 70, one that left him in a tie for 11th after the opening round. McCarthy is still looking for his first TOUR win, but his U.S. Open record is surprisingly solid: He has no finish worse than T32 in three appearances, highlighted by a T8 finish at The Country Club in 2022.

McCarthy isn’t the longest hitter on TOUR, but he can be precise when it’s called for. The more the fairways firm up and play narrow, the better it will fit his skillset – not to mention a putter that’s one of the best in the game.

I’m not sure he’ll make his first TOUR win a major, like Matt Fitzpatrick did three years ago, but at this price I like his chances of hanging around – particularly after finishes of T29 (Masters) and T8 (PGA) in the other majors this year.

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