Here's everything you need to know about 2024 U.S. Open PrizePicks plays and Thursday first-round picks for this week's major championship in Pinehurst, North Carolina.
With the Memorial Tournament in the rear-view mirror, we now look forward to this week's 2024 U.S. Open, which Pinehurst No. 2 will host for the first time since 2014.
Pinehurst is a par-70, 7,534-yard track designed by Donald Ross that was renovated in 2010 by Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw. While Coore and Crenshaw added some of their own changes to the landscape, the traditional Ross signature remains the same with small and undulating greens that run out fast and require precise approach shots.
Find my 2024 U.S. Open PrizePicks plays for Thursday below.
2024 U.S. Open PrizePicks
Matt Fitzpatrick More Than 2.5 Birdies or Better
Matt Fitzpatrick won the 2022 U.S. Open, so you know he can compete on difficult tracks in elite competition.
He enters this tournament in great form after making the weekend in seven of his past eight events. Fitzpatrick boasts four top-11 finishes over that stretch.
The only thing that typically holds him back is the inconsistent ability to string together every facet of the game. What I mean by that is whenever Fitzpatrick gets hot with the putter, then perhaps his driving starts to waver. Or, when he starts bombing well off the tee, then his approach game starts to fall behind.
For some reason, he sometimes struggles to get all the clubs working well together simultaneously, which is why he has more top-20 finishes and hasn't contended often recently.
The reason I particularly like Fitzpatrick this week is that, for the first time all season, every single club was working well at the Memorial. He gained True Total Strokes in every category across the board last week, which was the first time he's done so all season.
Fitzpatrick is starting to peak at the right time, and considering that he ranks 22nd on Tour this season in Birdie Average despite not playing his best golf until last week, I think he can handle this difficult track and birdie at least three holes on Thursday.
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Bryson DeChambeau Less Than 71 Strokes
I wrote about Bryson DeChambeau in my First-Round Leader article this week, and if I like him to lead after the first round, then I obviously also like him to shoot 71 or lower in the process.
DeChambeau should continue to ride his momentum after a brilliant performance at the PGA Championship. He finished runner up as Xander Schauffele closed the tournament out on Sunday, but that doesn't take away from how well DeChambeau played across the board.
There was not a single weakness in his game when he was sinking putts and chips, tossing tremendous approach shots and hitting bombs off the tee. He was also the first-round leader at Augusta this year, which he did against an extremely similar field.
DeChambeau is one of the best golfers in this field, and his distance off the tee and strong approach game should bode well for him at Pinehurst this week.
Tony Finau More Than 2.5 Birdies or Better
Tony Finau has been a birdie machine this season and currently ranks eighth on Tour in Birdie Average with 4.3 per round.
Like Fitzpatrick and DeChambeau, Finau is peaking at the right time following an eighth-place finish at the Memorial. He gained True Total Strokes in every category across the board last week, marking the first time he has done so since January.
Finau's game is well rounded at the moment, which is particularly encouraging for a guy who already ranked eighth in Birdie Average this season. He has now made the weekend in seven consecutive tournaments, posting five top-20 finishes over that stretch.
Finau has also typically played great on Ross designs as he won the 2022 Rocket Mortgage Championship at Detroit Golf Club and finished inside the top 20 in seven consecutive Tour Championships at East Lake.
