U.S. Open 2019: Preview and predictions

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FARMINGDALE, NEW YORK – MAY 17: Francesco Molinari of Italy plays his tee shot on the fifth hole during the second round of the 2019 PGA Championship on the Black Course at Bethpage State Park on May 17, 2019 in Farmingdale, New York. (Photo by David Cannon/Getty Images) /

6. Francesco Molinari

Set to defend his title at The Open Championship next month, world No. 6 Francesco Molinari hasn’t played his best golf in the last few weeks, but this is a guy that can never be counted out. He won at the Arnold Palmer a couple of months back before and finished third in the Match Play and tied for fifth at The Masters but then hit a bit of a rough patch.

He missed the cut at the RBC Heritage, tied for 48th at the PGA Championship and most recently tied for 53rd at the Charles Schwab Challenge. He missed the cut here in 2010 and has never finished in the top 10 at a U.S. Open in nine appearances. If he can’t get things straightened out, it could be a short week.

7. Justin Thomas

After missing the PGA Championship due to a wrist injury, Justin Thomas returned to action at the Memorial and promptly missed the cut, not uncommon after missing some time. He got into the top 20 in Canada this past weekend and is obviously hoping for some more progress this week at Pebble Beach. He says he likes how his game is coming along and that the wrist is a non-issue so it will be interesting to see what kind of start he gets off to. Big rough isn’t good on the wrists so if he misses the fairway, he’ll have to hope things can hold up.

8. Patrick Cantlay

Patrick Cantlay comes to the 2019 U.S. Open as one of the hottest golfers in the world. After a solid start to 2019, the 27-year-old notched his first top-10 finish at a major with a T-9 at The Masters and followed that up with consecutive top-3 finishes at the RBC Heritage and the PGA Championship.

He then scored his second PGA Tour win with a fantastic final-round performance at the Memorial, shooting an 8-under round of 64 to win by two strokes over Adam Scott, a win that vaulted him into the top 10 in the world rankings for the first time. The Long Beach native has been knocking on the door for quite some time to be recognized as one of the game’s best young guns and he’s right there now. Look for big things from Cantlay this week.

9. Bryson DeChambeau

Heading the other way in the rankings is Bryson DeChambeau, who is having a disappointing 2019. Yes, he did win in Dubai back in January on the European Tour but he’s cracked the top 20 just once since February and that was a tie for 20th at The Players. He finished tied for 29th at The Masters and then missed three consecutive cuts, one of them being the PGA Championship. DeChambeau most recently tied for 22nd at the Memorial, which isn’t terrible, but that’s not the momentum one would be looking for heading into a U.S. Open at Pebble Beach.

10. Xander Schauffele

Xander Schauffele comes to the 2019 U.S. Open playing pretty consistent golf. He has missed a couple of cuts this year but has played solidly at the majority of the big tournaments. He won the Sentry Tournament of Champions to begin his 2019 and has finished outside the top 25 just once in the 10 weekends for which he’s been around.

He also finished in that big tie for second at The Masters and tied for 16th at the PGA Championship, so he’s been playing pretty well at the majors thus far this season. He tied for sixth at last year’s U.S. Open, so he knows what it’s like to be in contention. Can he break through and get that first major win?

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