{"id":23307,"date":"2026-06-18T21:58:08","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T21:58:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/23307\/"},"modified":"2026-06-18T21:58:08","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T21:58:08","slug":"2026-us-open-first-round-leader-predictions-picks-odds-scores","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/23307\/","title":{"rendered":"2026 US Open first-round leader predictions, picks, odds, scores"},"content":{"rendered":"

Updated June 17, 2026, 4:13 p.m. ET<\/p>\n

The 2026 U.S. Open<\/a> tees off on Thursday and all eyes will quickly be on the leaderboard at Shinnecock, Hills. The Golfweek team will be doing the same thing, dissecting each fairway hit and putt missed.<\/p>\n

What that in mind, we have identified a few players who may be sitting atop the leaderboard on Thursday evening after 18 holes are completed. Here’s who we think could get off to a hot start.<\/p>\n

Follow along with all the action this week with Golfweek and USA TODAY Sports for a live leaderboard<\/a>, golfer rankings<\/a> and money list<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"AU.S. Open first-round leader picksCameron Jourdan: Collin Morikawa (+5500)<\/p>\n

Morikawa has been dealing with the back injury for the majority of the season but has still been playing good golf. This first round feels like anyone could lead after and so this is like blindly throwing a dart at a board.<\/p>\n

Need a news break? Check out the all new PLAY hub with puzzles, games and more!<\/a>Jason Lusk: Tommy Fleetwood (+3300)<\/p>\n

The Englishman will get everyone’s hopes up early.<\/p>\n

Nicholas Stavas: Sam Burns (+4000)<\/p>\n

Sam Burns is No. 2 on the PGA Tour in Early Round 1 Scoring Average (yes, that’s a stat). He tees off at 7:41 a.m. ET on Thursday, and he’s playing some solid golf of late, and with a T-4 at the Memorial and a top-20 finish in Toronto last week.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/David Dusek: Patrick Reed (+4500)<\/p>\n

The wind is expected to blow on Thursday, and it typically builds through the day in eastern Long Island, so an early tee time (Reed starts at 7:52 a.m. ET) could help. Reed is elite scrambling and putting, so if he catches decent conditions, he has a chance to score, but it’s going to be a tough day.<\/p>\n

Adam Schupak: Patrick Reed (+4500)<\/p>\n

Reed’s got the short-game magic to contend at Shinnecock and a fast start would go a long way for him to put the golf world on notice that he’s still a force to be reckoned with.<\/p>\n

Todd Kelly: Bryson DeChambeau (+4500)<\/p>\n

DeChambeau missed the cut at the first two majors (painfully so at the Masters) but will turn heads with his Day 1 performance at Shinnecock.<\/p>\n

Tim Schmitt: Tyrrell Hatton (+3500)<\/p>\n

His emotions will get the best of him at some point, but that doesn’t mean Hatton can’t string together an incredible opening round and he’s been playing some great golf of late.<\/p>\n

Our editors independently choose our recommendations. Some content is produced with paid support from a third party, however our editorial decisions remain independent. If you buy through our links, the USA TODAY Network may earn a commission. Prices and availability may change.<\/p>\n

Information in this article was imported automatically into a template written and reviewed by a USA TODAY Sports editor. You can send feedback using this form.<\/a><\/p>\n

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Prediction Markets: Certain prediction markets are event contracts regulated by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) or other applicable regulatory authorities and are legally distinct from traditional gambling and sports betting. Eligibility requirements to participate in prediction markets differ from those for sports betting and gambling \u2014 you may be required to be 18 or older (or such other age as the applicable platform requires) and to satisfy other eligibility criteria established by the relevant platform and governing law. Prediction market trading involves financial risk and may not be available in all jurisdictions. The legal and regulatory status of prediction markets varies by jurisdiction and by platform. It is your sole responsibility to confirm that participation is lawful where you reside and to comply with all applicable laws and platform terms.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Updated June 17, 2026, 4:13 p.m. ET The 2026 U.S. Open tees off on Thursday and all eyes…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":23308,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[58,1553,59,819,820,97,1795,65,1794,304,193,1760,62],"class_list":["post-23307","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-collin-morikawa","tag-accessfree","tag-collin-morikawa","tag-sourcegolfweek","tag-sstssportsgolf","tag-sstsngolf","tag-tagcontains-commerce-or-affiliate-content","tag-tagexclude-auto-tagging","tag-taggolf","tag-taggpi-629-automated-sports-story","tag-tagmodular-story","tag-tagpga-tour","tag-tagsports-betting-widget-and-disclaimer","tag-typestory"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23307","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23307"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23307\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23308"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23307"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23307"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23307"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}