McIlroy Leads Major Again

Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy shot a remarkable opening round 65 to already make him the man to beat in the US Open. The 22-year-old, who dominated the US Masters in April before the wheels came off on the final nine holes, has already grabbed a three shot lead at Congressional. He is six under par and a best price of 5/2 with bet365 to walk off with the trophy on Sunday night.

One of the men on three under par is Charl Schwartzel - it was the South African who won at Augusta after McIlroy’s late collapse and he is 14/1 with Skybet to record back-to-back majors. He is tied with Y E Yang who has rapidly seen his pre-tournament price of 100/1 plummet to a best of just 20/1 with Coral. Sergio Garcia is -2 and next in the betting at 22/1 with bet365. On the same score, Louis Oosthuizen, the former British Open winner, is 33/1 with Coral.

Defending champion Graeme McDowell should be thrilled with his opening 70 as only nine players in the entire field could better his one under par status. He is 25/1 with SkyBet to retain his major title.

It was a tough day for most of the pre-tournament favourites who struggled their way round the monstrous 7500 yard Maryland course. Phil Mickelson (+3) is now 33/1 with Coral, Luke Donald (+3) is 40/1 with Boylesports and Lee Westwood (+4) is 50/1 with StanJames. However, with the final winning score predicted to be level par or worse, they all still have some hope with three rounds to go. They first need to make the cut, but if McIlroy continues his glorious form then that winning target may be someway higher than expected anyway.