Steve Palmer's US Open predictions and free golf betting tips

When does the US Open start?

By 2.45pm UK and Ireland time on Thursday

Where to watch the US Open

Live on Sky Sports Main Event and Golf from 3pm on Thursday

Steve Palmer's US Open predictions

Max Homa
3pts each-way 28-1 bet365

Viktor Hovland
3pts each-way 16-1 bet365, BoyleSports

Si Woo Kim
1.5pts each-way 66-1 bet365

Min Woo Lee
1pt each-way 100-1 BoyleSports, Power

Justin Suh
0.5pt each-way 250-1 bet365, BoyleSports

Click to add Steve's selections to your Bet365 betting slip

A fascinating US Open lies in store – the first Major since the shock announcement about the new PGA Tour structure and the first time in 75 years that this magnificent tournament will take place in Los Angeles. There is interest and intrigue around every corner.

Media scrutiny early in the week will focus on the big names, as well as the LIV Golf community, who will be asked about the strong possibility of getting their PGA Tour playing rights back. Masters champion Jon Rahm, rumoured to have been close to signing for LIV just prior to golf's bombshell declaration of union, will face a grilling from the press pack, along with US PGA victor Brooks Koepka and others.

Add a venue with an almost mythical status into the equation – a private playground of the rich and famous just west of Hollywood – and you have one of the most mouthwatering golf gatherings in recent memory.

Steve Palmer's top tip

Max Homa 28-1

Nobody in the US Open field has a huge amount of course knowledge this week – the wealthy members of Los Angeles Country Club have largely kept their gates closed to outsiders through the years – but local lad Max Homa is more comfortable than most.

Homa, born in Los Angeles County, excelled at LACC in a prestigious amateur event there in 2013 – he opened with a course-record 61 and went on to win the Pac-12 Championship by five shots. A decade later, as world number seven, Homa possesses all the tools to rip this layout to shreds again.

The 32-year-old is one of the best iron players in the world – and accurate approaches to thin, well-guarded greens seems the key to LACC success.

Throw in his scrambling ability and his immense touch and bottle with putter in hand, and it is easy to see Homa's name atop the LACC leaderboard again. A slight driving inaccuracy has been his only weakness this season, but the generous fairways of LACC take pressure off this department, and the firm, fast conditions mean the popular Californian can hit plenty of three-woods.

Four of Homa's six PGA Tour victories have come in his home state – he relishes performing in front of family and friends – and more Golden State glory could be coming on Sunday. Homa's first Tour title in California came 20 minutes down the road from LACC – at Riviera CC in the Genesis Invitational – and he was runner-up to Rahm in the same event in February.

Homa's Majors record is poor, but it is only over the last couple of years that he has matured into a member of the elite, and this late bloomer looks ready to contend for the game's biggest prizes. A courageous final-round 66 in January won Homa the Farmers Insurance Open at another US Open venue – Torrey Pines – then he was sixth in the Players Championship in March.

Ninth place at Colonial last time out was a tidy warm-up event for Homa, who skipped the Memorial to attend his sister's wedding. Fresh for the US Open fight, the fans' favourite can flourish. He lies second on the PGA Tour's par-three performance statistics – noteworthy with five par-threes at LACC.

Next best bet

Viktor Hovland 16-1

Homa emerged triumphant at a difficult course in the Farmers and Viktor Hovland did likewise in the Memorial at Muirfield Village last time out. The Norwegian had been having a consistent but winless season until a brilliant three-under-par back nine at a firm, fast Muirfield Village saw him hang tough on Memorial Sunday.

Hovland made his US Open debut in California as an amateur in 2019, finishing 12th at Pebble Beach, and he has become a serious Major threat more recently. Fourth place in the Open at St Andrews last summer was followed by seventh spot in the Masters in April and a tie for second in the US PGA last month.

Hovland pushed Koepka hard for a long way in the US PGA, showcasing his ball-striking class, buckling only when hitting the lip of a fairway bunker at the 70th hole. There was certainly no disgrace in that defeat and the way he bounced back from the near-miss to become Memorial champion showed a great deal about the 25-year-old's character.

Hovland enjoys California – he was second at Torrey Pines in the 2021 Farmers and has Riviera form figures of 5-4-20 in the Genesis – and Major glory seems almost inevitable at some stage for this greens-in-regulation machine. The US Open has served up a series of first-time Major winners in recent years, with Homa and Hovland looking likely lads for a breakthrough this time.

Other selections

Si Woo Kim 66-1
Min Woo Lee 100-1
Justin Suh 250-1

Three hugely talented Major maidens appeal deeper down the betting. Si Woo Kim showed when winning the Players Championship at the age of 21 that he can beat elite fields – the classy Korean won the so-called 'Fifth Major' by three shots – and a pair of weekend 64s for Sony Open glory five months ago reminded the world of his huge ability.

Kim, who has exhibited great courage in Presidents Cup combat for the Internationals, has a strong record in California. He won on the Korn Ferry Tour in the Golden State, then on the PGA Tour in 2021, repelling Patrick Cantlay in The American Express. Third place in the 2019 Genesis at Riviera is a particularly eyecatching effort. Kim, second in the Byron Nelson a month ago and fourth in the Memorial last time out, is 15th on the PGA Tour for par-three performance.

Min Woo Lee relishes Major competition – he was 14th on his Masters debut, 27th on his US Open debut, 21st in the Open at St Andrews last summer and 18th in the US PGA last month. The 24-year-old Australian will be licking his lips at the firm, fast LACC, where he can employ his 'stinger' shots to great effect. Lee's incredible touch around the greens is another positive and he showed at Sawgrass in March that he is ready to challenge for the highest honours.

Sixth place in the Players, having gone round with Scottie Scheffler in the final Sunday twoball, proved Lee has become elite. He has earned Special Temporary Membership of the PGA Tour – a circuit on which his future seems assured.

Top and tail your US Open attack with Californians. Homa will be getting more attention this week, but Justin Suh became a college star at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles and can make waves at an enormous price this week. The former world number one amateur (for 26 weeks) has established himself on the PGA Tour and should get off the mark soon.

Suh, Korn Ferry Tour Player of the Year last season, finished 20th in the Farmers in January, then followed up with fifth place in the Honda Classic and sixth in the Players Championship. More recently, 26th place in the US PGA and 16th at Colonial were respectable efforts, and the man who turned 26 on Monday clearly has a huge future. This looks set to be a low-scoring US Open and Suh's magical putting should count for plenty.

Los Angeles Country Club course guide

Course North Course, Los Angeles Country Club, Los Angeles, California
Prize money $17.5m ($3.15m to the winner)
Length 7,423 yards
Par 70 – three par-fives; ten par-fours; five par-threes
Field 156 The cut The top 60 and ties qualify for round three
Highest-ranked players in field (world ranking in brackets) Scottie Scheffler (1), Jon Rahm (2), Rory McIlroy (3), Patrick Cantlay (4), Viktor Hovland (5)
Course records - 72 holes professional event 279 Harry Cooper (1926 Los Angeles Open) 18 holes 61 Max Homa (2013 Pac-12 Championship, amateur event)

When to bet By 2.45pm UK and Ireland time on Thursday

When to watch Live on Sky Sports Main Event and Golf from 3pm on Thursday

Time difference California is eight hours behind the UK and Ireland

Last week – Canadian Open 1 N Taylor (66-1), 2 T Fleetwood (22-1), T3 T Hatton (12-1), A Rai (90-1), C.T Pan (100-1), T6 E Cole (66-1), M Hubbard (110-1), 8 J Rose (18-1), T9 B Wu (100-1), A Novak (300-1), R McIlroy (5-1)

Course type Parkland

Course overview The Los Angeles Open was at this venue in 1926, 1934, 1935, 1936 and 1940. The North Course, designed by George C. Thomas Junior (who also crafted Riviera CC), was renovated by Gil Hanse, Jim Wagner and Geoff Shackelford in 2010. LACC hosted the 2013 Pac-12 Championship, a prestigious amateur event, which was won by Max Homa. Then it staged the Walker Cup, an elite amateur team competition between the USA and Great Britain and Ireland, in 2017, featuring Scottie Scheffler (one point from two matches) and Collin Morikawa (four points from four matches). Only 22,000 tickets per day have been allocated for US Open spectators (14,000 of which is for corporate hospitality). The club is among the wealthiest and most exclusive in America – in the heart of Beverly Hills – and until recently members rejected the idea of having tournaments there. There is a mixture of uphill and downhill holes, and long and short. The 124-yard 15th is the shortest hole in US Open history. This is the first US Open with Bermuda grass rough since the 2005 edition at Pinehurst, but recent weather has not allowed it to grow as long as the USGA had hoped. The track will play firm and fast

Story of last year Matt Fitzpatrick produced a magnificent approach from a fairway bunker at the 72nd hole to set up a one-shot victory over Scottie Scheffler and Will Zalatoris and a first Major title

Weather forecast Sunny and calm throughout, with temperatures peaking at 23C

Type of player suited to the challenge Patrick Cantlay has suggested a level-par 72-hole total can win this week, but the layout appears more generous than typical US Open venues, with the rough failing to grow and an average fairway width of 43 yards. Accurate iron-play to the well protected greens and a hot putter should yield plenty of birdies

Key attribute Accuracy