US Open second-round golf betting tips and predictions

Where to watch the US Open second round

Live on Sky Sports Main Event & Golf, from 12.30pm Friday

Best bets

Sergio Garcia to win 6.14pm threeball
2pts Evs bet365, Coral, Ladbrokes

Tony Finau to win 6.36pm threeball
1pt 7-4 general

Story so far

Rory McIlroy is the 5-2 favourite to win the US Open after a superb bogey-free 65 saw the Northern Irishman claim a share of the first-round lead on day one at Pinehurst No.2

Chasing a first Major success in almost a decade, McIlroy produced an excellent tee-to-green display in North Carolina on Thursday, culminating in an 18th-hole birdie which drew him level with Patrick Cantlay, who fired the lowest round from the morning wave.

That pair hold a one-shot lead over prodigious Swede Ludvig Aberg, who opened up with a 66 on his third Major start, while France's Matthieu Pavon and 2020 US Open champion Bryson DeChambeau are two shots off the pace.

World number one Scottie Scheffler, who came into the tournament on a run of five wins from his last eight starts including a victory at last week's Memorial Tournament, produced an uncharacteristically poor first-round driving display as he opened up with a one-over 71.

Scheffler has been eased to 6-1 from a pre-tournament 3-1 with Aberg and DeChambeau each on offer at 7-1.

Only 15 players are on the right side of par heading into the second round with Pinehurst only likely to get tougher as the tournament continues.

Tiger Woods, who is four over par through 18 holes, is one of a number of notable names with work to do to make the weekend. He's joined outside of the cut line by Dustin Johnson (four over), Justin Thomas (seven over) and Viktor Hovland (eight over).

2024 US Open leaderboard

-5 Patrick Cantlay, Rory McIlroy
-4 Ludvig Aberg
-3 Matthieu Pavon, Bryson DeChambeau
-2 Tony Finau, Tyrrell HAtton, Akshay Bhatia
-1 Seonghyeon Kim, Corey Conners, Sergio Garcia, Sam Bennett, Aaron Rai, Thomas Detry, Jackson Suber

Best odds for the US Open

5-2 R McIlroy, 6 S Scheffler, 7 L Aberg, B DeChambeau, 9 P Cantlay, 14 X Schauffele, 22 C Morikawa, 25 B Koepka, 28 T Hatton, T Finau, 40 T Fleetwood, 50 bar.

US Open second-round threeball predictions

McIlroy's first Major title came in the 2011 US Open when he blew away the field to win by eight shots at Congressional and he has put himself in the driving seat 13 years later in his bid for a second.

However, Major near-misses have become the norm for the 35-year-old in recent years, including in last season's US Open at Los Angeles Country Club, and it's possible that he's hit the front too early, bringing psychological hurdles into play from round two onwards.

While not at Scheffler's week-to-week level, McIlroy is still one of the best in the game and there's no doubt he is good enough to win many more Majors but, in Pinehurst No.2, he is faced with a course which will test every facet of his game. He looks on the skinny side now.

McIlroy, Scheffler and US PGA champion Xander Schauffele tee off at 12.29pm UK and Ireland time and it will come as a surprise if Scheffler drives the ball as badly as he did in round one. He struck his irons well, at least, and there's every chance he eats into a six-shot deficit in round two.

The best second-round threeball bets come in the form of Sergio Garcia (6.14pm threeball) and Tony Finau (6.36pm), who both carded under-par rounds on Thursday.

LIV star Garcia earned a late US Open reprieve, making his 25th start in the tournament after getting in as an alternate, and he made the most of his chance by carding a one-under 69.

The veteran Spaniard's measured approach is ideal for Pinehurst and he should again outperform his playing partners, Ryo Ishikawa and Francesco Molinari, who shot rounds of 76 and 73 on Thursday.

Aberg produced a magnificent first round on his US Open debut, carding a 66 and leading the field in strokes-gained tee-to-green, but the Swede has had fitness concerns in recent weeks.

While he maintains his knee isn't causing problems – and Thursday's round suggested as much – he might not be quite so precise in round two and Finau, who has looked sharp with his irons in recent outings, looks a decent value alternative.

Finau can get the better of Aberg and Dustin Johnson, who carded an opening 74 and has looked a long way short of his best in recent Major starts.

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