4 Players To Watch at the 2021 U.S. Open
- Updated: June 16, 2021
U.S. Open week is upon us and while we aren’t breaking any news here, here are 4 players to watch at Torrey Pines:
Bryson “The Big Golfer” DeChambeau
From what we’re told, winning on the PGA Tour is tough. Winning majors is even tougher. Winning back to US Opens? Well, that’s a feat accomplished by very few.
But Bryson has a chance to do it this week, joining a short list of greats, the most recent of which is his best buddy Brooks Koepka. What better way to stoke the flames of golf’s newest budding (and not forced at all) rivalry than a Bryson championship defense.
Plus, think of all the protein shakes he could fit into 2 of those trophies!
Brooks “Brooksy” Koepka
Brooks has been a real wildcard this season with a W in Scottsdale, T2 at both Concession and the PGA, and a bunch of MCs peppered throughout.
Fresh off one of them, he looks to add a third US Open trophy to his collection and continue his major championship dominance which has been going on for about 4 years now.
More importantly though, he needs to back up some of his smack-talking to Bryson. Since the viral video surfaced of Brooks getting visibly annoyed by Bryson during an interview with Todd Lewis, the only thing he has done is go home early from Congaree.
Now we all know he doesn’t care because it wasn’t a major and we’re lucky he even showed up for the first two rounds. But still, it’s not a good look. Look for Major Brooks aka Bruce to make an appearance at Torrey.
Jordan “Golden Boy” Spieth
After several years of struggling, Jordan Spieth seems to have found something this year.
Since a missed cut at the Farmers, he has eight top 10s, six top 5s, and a win in 12 starts. Now he is returning to the scene of his last really poor performance but looks to be a completely different player now than he was in January.
His driving accuracy and putting, both of which are paramount at Torrey, have shown a steady improvement since the beginning of the season.
The three-time major winner looks to win his first one since 2017, and his game seems to be in form for the first time since then.
Phil “Old Man” Mickelson
Last month, Phil defied the odds and father time by winning his 6th major championship at the age of 50.
Right around the time he made the turn on Sunday, I started thinking of the magnitude of the mere fact that he is in contention at this point in the tournament, and what that means going forward. And I immediately started thinking of the US Open. Why not?
Torrey is pretty much a home game for Phil and it’s a course he’s won at 3 times before. A win here would complete the career grand slam and solidify his place as one of the very best of all time.
What Phil has been able to do with the prime of his career being smack dab in the middle of an era where Tiger was winning 25% of the time he teed it up, is nothing short of remarkable. This would just be icing on the cake for an already stellar career.
Some may say the course doesn’t set up great for him, but his chances going into Kiawah weren’t great either and we all saw how that worked out.
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