Debutant Scott Stallings will be eyeing a top-10 at the US Open
Published:US Open debutant Scott Stallings could be the man to make a splash at the 113th edition of the season’s second major.
He may only be present this weekend thanks to sectional qualifying but he arrives at Merion Golf Club as one of the most in-form players on the Tour, having recorded top five finishes in his last three events.
The 28-year-old comes in fresh from tied-fourths at Muirfield Village and Colonial as well as a tied-second at TPC Southwind, while he led in each of those tournaments at some stage or another.
He enters the fray with an impressive all-round ranking of 22 and the 6/1 about him snaring a place in the top-10 offers superb value for a man on such a hot streak.
Fellow countryman Bill Haas has also started to play well just in time for a Major, having tied fourth alongside Stallings at Muirfield Village just two weeks ago.
The Charlotte-born player has been a consistent presence on this year’s Tour, so much so that he co-leads with six top-10 finishes.
Haas is tied-first for par-4 scoring and that could prove crucial on a course that contains a seven-hole stretch (7-13) where no hole exceeds 403 yards, making the 5/1 on a top-10 finish an interesting proposition.
Hitting the greens and staying straight will be key around this tricky Merion course with its contours on both the greens and fairways and that could bring 5/1 shot Henrik Stenson into the equation.
The Swede ranks third in GIR and is enjoying a very strong season going eight for -10 and has already registered three top-10s in 2013.
The Florida resident has been strong off the tee, leading the Tour in fairways hit, and is tied-fifth in par-5 scoring, meaning he could get off to a strong start with the par-5s here coming at two and four.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
