2020 U.S. Open at Winged Foot: My Two Picks and Winning Score

By Klouse, Expert Golf Analyst

Klouse’s Tradition for Majors– Every golf major since the 2009 Masters, I have done the same exact routine. I pick two golfers that I think will win. Usually one is a chalk pick or a heavy favorite, and the other is an underdog. Both picks are determined based on hot streaks, statistics, and sometimes just a lucky guess depending on ‘just having a feeling’. Also, I pick a winning score to guess how easy or hard the conditions and course will be.

Dustin Johnson- Can’t bet against a streak, even if it is DJ who always contends in the majors but seldom wins them. The one major he has won so far however, was a U.S. Open (2016) and Dustin has three other top 5’s in the U.S. Open since 2014 (per Wikipedia). So he definitely knows how to win at tough golf courses. I am picking DJ to win because of the way he just manhandled the FedEx Cup Playoffs, and the assumption that a spark got lit inside, and we are about to witness a new and improved, dominating Dustin who doesn’t choke major leads.

Tyrrell Hatton– Okay, he probably sounds like a major underdog and you might not know this guy, but Hatton is actually 14th in the world right now and is having a banger of a season. He has one win this year at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March, and he won the tourney at 4 under par, so he knows how to win on a tough golf course. Hatton is from England and has a unique temper that is entertaining to watch, that I believe will propel him to victory this Sunday. Seriously, this guy is a nutcase with his emotions out there.

Winning Score- The hype is real about Winged Foot. It is as tough as it gets in terms of pure difficulty. The course is long, the fairways are narrow, and the rough is 5-6 inches tall! Even with my high golfing skill level, I would sulk off the 18th green after tapping in for a score of 132. The 2006 U.S. Open was the last time Winged Foot hosted the tourney and the winning score was +5 over par. Yes you just read that right, five over par! I even heard on Golf Channel that some of the members of Winged Foot are saying the winning score could be as high as +8 over par! I am going to go with a more modest guess and say that +1 over par will be the winning score. There is not a chance somebody shoots par or better at this course unless Tiger reclaims his prime 2000 season form out of nowhere (fingers crossed this happens).

Final Take- Winged Foot will be like Christmas Morning for golf fans who want to see the pros scrub it up by dubbing chips, shanking shots from the rough, and missing two footers. Honestly, I don’t care who wins this week, I just want to see a bloodbath of over par scoring. Grab the popcorn folks, its gonna be a good one.