U.S. Open 2020: 5 dark horse golfers who could win at Winged Foot

U.S. Open sleeper No. 5: Tommy Fleetwood (+4000)

In terms of sleepers, this is just dipping the toe slightly into the water right now. Tommy Fleetwood is tied for the 12th shortest odds to win at Winged Foot with Tony Finau, Tyrell Hatton and Hideki Matsuyama. But as things start to get more crowded around this area with more players seemingly entering on a level playing field, Fleetwood is a golfer who separates himself for me.

Fleetwood was one of the longest holdouts in the return to the PGA Tour, not returning until the 3M Open. And the rust was relatively evident in his return as he didn’t finish better than T29 — though that was in the PGA Championship — and didn’t advance past THE NORTHERN TRUST in the playoffs. But last week started to turn things around.

Playing in the Portugal Masters on the European Tour, Fleetwood finished third in the event. However, he dominated the field off the tee and with his irons, leading the field in Strokes Gained: Tee-To-Green by 1.45 strokes, the same difference between second and 19th place in that statistical category.

Moreover, Fleetwood has popped up at the U.S. Open previously. He shot a 63 on Sunday at Shinnecock Hills in 2018 to finish second and was fourth at Erin Hills the previous year. In four tries at this major, the Englishman has two top-fives, three top-30s and no missed cuts. Though there’s not a big body of recent form to bank on, the totality of his game is set up for Fleetwood to make a run this week.