Ben Coley has four selections towards the head of the US Open market this week, but for those keen to take a chance here are his dark horses.
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Akshay Bhatia
Bhatia's first notable major performance came in last year's US Open when he played beautifully for a share of 16th. It's fair to say things have been up and down since, but after a solid start to 2025 followed by a quiet spring, he's improved to finish 22nd and 16th on his last two starts. Having also made the cut on his only other US Open start, this generally solid, accurate but not short driver looks to have the kind of game which could see him extend that run for years to come. He probably needs a while before he's contending, but was tempting at three-figure odds.
Marc Leishman
The Aussie has been hitting his irons really well on the LIV Golf circuit this year, not only when winning at Doral but also last week, when finishing strongly for 10th. Between these two he qualified for this to end a three-year absence from majors and it was in fact in the summer of 2022 that he finished 14th at Brookline, his best US Open result to date. That's a worry and he's generally struggled with thick rough and tough scoring, but prior to it his best US Open was in fact here, when 18th. He's an option for top Australian and a potential place contender on recent form.
Taylor Pendrith
Along with Bhatia and Cameron Young, Pendrith was one of three outsiders who came close to featuring in my staking plan. He's made for the US Open, being exceptionally long off the tee, and it was a sort of US Open-lite which saw him produce his best major performance last time out in the PGA Championship. Since then two appearances have both been solid but I do have my doubts as to whether he can contend for this, as he's not convincing under the gun. Notably, it was a late surge which landed that backdoor top-five at Quail Hollow.
Cameron Young
Another near-miss in the Canadian Open means Young still has questions to answer, and while keen to stress that he hit two good shots to the 72nd hole in Toronto, let's not forget he hit a wild drive on 17 and a poor wedge on 16. Anyway, one thing he doesn't have to prove is his ability to turn up and contend in majors, which he has done with five top-10 finishes already. None of them has come in this event and I imagine his upturn with the putter will come to a shuddering halt, but having been on my radar for the PGA he was again here.
Matt McCarty
Left-hander McCarty should be feeling great coming to Oakmont, having sealed an Open invite with a strong performance in Canada last week. Yes, he relied on his putter there, but this solid, accurate driver has shown much more than that ever since winning in Utah soon after earning PGA Tour hip for the first time. He narrowly missed the cut on his US Open debut three years ago but returns a far better player, one whose Masters debut saw him finish an excellent 14th, and whose subsequent missed cut in the PGA was by a narrow margin.
Joe Highsmith
If you were to ask me for a total flyer this week, it would be Highsmith. There are two main positives: a top-10 finish in the PGA Championship (ittedly, he holed everything that week) and an earlier win at the notoriously difficult Cognizant Classic, which has been a good major pointer in the past and has seen several US Open winners go particularly well. Highsmith should have no trouble with conditions hailing from Washington, but has been very poor in a couple of starts since Quail Hollow.
Byeong Hun An
Another contender in Canada on Sunday, this long-driving, somewhat underachieving Korean could build on a sneaky-good majors record lately. He's been 16th and 21st in the last two Masters and was 13th in the Open last year, so with his game having come around last week he might just surprise a few. The main negative is that while a big-hitter he's not at all an accurate one, but the other positive to counterbalance that is a share of 23rd here in 2016.
Thriston Lawrence
Last summer, Lawrence contended all the way through the Open Championship at odds as big as 750/1 in places, eventually finishing second in a performance which helped earn him a PGA Tour card. His rookie season has been a nightmare but he's missed a lot of cuts by narrow margins, has hit the ball generally well, and showed what he can do back in Europe two starts ago. If you forgive him last week's missed cut in nasty weather, and you buy into the idea that Oakmont's origins are actually found in Scottish links courses, there's a speculative case to be made.
Dustin Johnson
I am of the view that Johnson is no longer dedicated enough to remain competitive at an elite level and believe his days of winning majors are almost certainly over. That said, you're getting 150/1 about a two-time major champion whose breakthrough came here, and he did stay on well for 10th at the latest LIV Golf event. Then again, that came after one of the very worst performances of his career at the PGA. It didn't take me long to move this idea right along.
Victor Perez
Finally, if you follow the path of total driving, which led to several big-priced contenders in 2016, then how about Perez? Ninth in Canada last week and ninth for the season in total driving, plus with a best of ninth in The PLAYERS, might the Frenchman add another ninth to his record here in the US Open? Maybe, but the issue is his best finish in five attempts is eighty-ninth and he's yet to make the cut.
Posted at 1150 BST on 10/06/25
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