We’re less than 24 hours away from the opening tee shot at the 2024 U.S. Open at Pinehurst.

If you haven’t already, now is the time to place some bets. You can check out the odds to win as well as my three top picks in my full betting preview here. In this article, we’re going to focus in on the clear second and third best golfers who will be teeing it up this week; Xander Schauffele and Rory McIlroy.

If you want to zero in on that matchup, you can bet on which of the two golfers will finish farther up the leaderboard. Schauffele is looking to win back-to-back majors while McIlroy continues to try to end his 10-year drought.

Odds via BetMGM Sportsbook

To the more casual golf fan, it may be surprising to see Schauffele as the betting favorite over McIlroy at -125 odds (55.56% implied probability), but there’s good reason for it.

Entering this week, Schauffele ranks second on the PGA Tour in Strokes Gained: Total at +2.223 per round, behind only Scheffler. McIlroy ranks a distant third at +1.662.

Schauffele’s history at the U.S. Open is also spotless. Since making his debut in 2017, he has finishes of T5, T6, T3, 5, T7, T14, and T10. Now, he’s coming into the event as a major champion with the weight of having never won one off his shoulders.

It’s also worth noting Schauffele has finished above McIlroy on the leaderboard in five of the last six times these two golfers teed it up in the same strokes play event. The only exception is the Wells Fargo Championship when McIlroy got the win. Schauffele was the runner-up.

McIlroy is a clear step below him this season so while he may carry some more name recognition, Schauffele is the clear bet to win this matchup at -125 odds.

Pick: Schauffele -125

Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

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You can check out all of Iain’s bets here!