2025 U.S. Open expert picks, bets, odds, sleepers: Golf insider ducking Rory McIlroy at Oakmont Country Club

Hideki Matsuyama, Sepp Straka, Russell Henley and Justin Thomas are among those who have won signature tournaments this year heading into the 2025 U.S. Open. Matsuyama and Thomas are already major champions, while Straka and Henley are looking for their first at the U.S. Open 2025. Play for the 125th edition of the tournament begins on Thursday from Oakmont Country Club. Straka (+5000) and Henley (+7000) are both 2025 U.S. Open longshots, according to the latest 2025 U.S. Open odds. The most recent major winner, PGA champion Scottie Scheffler, is the +280 favorite, followed by reigning U.S. Open champion Bryson DeChambeau (+700) and Masters winner Rory McIlroy (+1100). Before making any 2025 U.S. Open picks, you need to see the 2025 U.S. Open predictions and best bets from golf insider Sia Nejad.

Nejad specializes in betting and DFS in golf, among other sports. He’s had incredible success in the outright and first-round leader markets and in betting head-to-head matchups. He also has been solid with his head-to-head matchups since the 2023 Charles Schwab Challenge, going 52-37-5 and returning 11.67 units over that span. That’s a $1,167 profit for $100 bettors since May 2023.

Nejad also nailed Wyndham Clark, a +7500 longshot, as the outright winner at the Wells Fargo Championship 2023. That year, SportsLine debuted “The Early Wedge,” and in the first three months of the show, he hit two first-round leaders and three outright winners. Anyone who has followed its sports betting picks could have seen massive returns on betting sites and for anyone taking advantage of the latest FanDuel promo code, DraftKings promo code and Fanatics Sportsbook promo code, just to name a few.

Now, Nejad has turned his attention to the 2025 U.S. Open field and locked in his best bets, top 2025 U.S. Open sleeper picks and favorites to avoid for anyone deciding how to bet on the U.S. Open. See who they are at SportsLine.

Top 2025 U.S. Open expert picks

One surprise: Nejad is fading Rory McIlroy, even though he is the newest grand slam champion and is a two-time PGA Championship winner. In his last start, the Canadian Open, he recorded the second-highest score to par in his PGA Tour career with an 8-over 78 in the second round. He missed the cut by 12 shots, and of the 153 players to complete at least two rounds, McIlroy’s score ranked 149th.

This came after the Irishman finished 47th at his last major in the PGA Championship. He’s shot over par in five of his last six rounds entering the U.S. Open. This recent poor stretch is compounded by the fact that McIlroy struggled in his last visit to Oakmont, missing the cut at 8-over-par at the 2016 U.S. Open. McIlroy seems to still be in the victory lap of his Masters win and hasn’t brought his best to ensuing tournaments, and one shouldn’t expect that to change at the U.S. Open. See who to back here. 

How to make 2025 U.S. Open picks, bets

Nejad has locked in his 2025 U.S. Open best bets, including a double-digit longshot who has been crushing in strokes gained. Anyone who backs him could hit it big. You can only see the picks at SportsLine.

So, which players should you target for the U.S. Open, and which golfer could bring a huge payday of more than 10-1? Check out the 2025 U.S. Open odds below, then visit SportsLine to see Sia Nejad’s top picks for the 2025 U.S. Open, all from the expert who has returned $1,167 for $100 bettors.

2025 U.S. Open odds, favorites 

Get full 2025 U.S. Open picks, best bets, and predictions here. 

Scottie Scheffler +280
Bryson DeChambeau +700
Rory McIlroy +1100
Jon Rahm +1200
Xander Schauffele +2200
Collin Morikawa +2500
Ludvig Åberg +3000
Joaquin Niemann +3300
Tommy Fleetwood +4000
Justin Thomas +4000
Shane Lowry +4000
Patrick Cantlay +4500
Tyrrell Hatton +5000
Brooks Koepka +5000
Sepp Straka +5000
Jordan Spieth+5500
Viktor Hovland +5500
Hideki Matsuyama +6500
Corey Conners +7000
Ben Griffin +7000
Russell Henley +7000
Sam Burns +8000
Justin Rose +10000
Patrick Reed +10000
Keegan Bradley +10000
Matt Fitzpatrick +10000
Harris English +10000
Maverick McNealy +11000
Daniel Berger +11000
Tony Finau +11000
Si Woo Kim +11000
Robert MacIntyre +11000
Taylor Pendrith +12000
Aaron Rai +12000
Sungjae Im +12000
Jason Day +12000
Ryan Fox +12000
Cameron Young +15000
Wyndham Clark +15000
Cameron Smith +15000
Akshay Bhatia +15000
Min Woo Lee +15000
J.J. Spaun +15000
Thorbjørn Olesen +17000
Denny McCarthy +17000
Brian Harman +17000
Nick Taylor +17000
Andrew Novak +17000
Adam Scott +17000
J.T. Poston +17000
Dustin Johnson +17000
Ryan Gerard +22000
Gary Woodland +22000
Lucas Glover +22000
Michael Kim +22000
Carlos Ortiz +22000
Davis Thompson +22000
Marc Leishman +22000
Tom Kim +22000
Bud Cauley +25000
Max Greyserman +25000
Byeong Hun An +25000
Thomas Detry +25000
Eric Cole +25000
Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen +27000
Johnny Keefer +30000
Stephan Jaeger +30000
Tom Hoge +30000
Sam Stevens +30000
Rasmus Højgaard +30000
Jordan Smith +30000
Jackson Koivun +30000
Phil Mickelson +30000
Mackenzie Hughes +30000
Matt Wallace +30000
Davis Riley +35000
Christiaan Bezuidenhout +35000
Jhonattan Vegas +35000
Erik van Rooyen +35000
Niklas Norgaard +35000
Doug Ghim +35000
Nico Echavarria +40000
Matt McCarty +40000
Matthieu Pavon +40000
Jacob Bridgeman +40000
Cam Davis +40000
Chris Kirk +40000
Richard Bland +40000
Emiliano Grillo +40000
Victor Perez +40000
Laurie Canter +50000
Chris Gotterup +50000
Mark Hubbard +50000
Takumi Kanaya +50000
Ben James +60000
Michael La Sasso +60000
Justin Lower +60000
Jinichiro Kozuma +75000
Joe Highsmith +75000
Sam Bairstow +75000
Matthew Jordan +75000
Edoardo Molinari +75000
Emilio Gonzalez +100000
Evan Beck +100000
Alistair Docherty +100000
Joakim Lagergren +100000
Alvaro Ortiz +100000
Ryan McCormick +100000
Tyler Weaver +100000
Riley Lewis +100000
Joey Herrera +100000
Frederic LaCroix +100000
Andrea Pavan +100000
Mason Howell +100000
Matt Vogt +100000
James Hahn +100000
Adam Schenk +100000
Jacques Kruyswijk +100000
Kevin Velo +100000
Trevor Cone+100000
James Nicholas +100000
Grant Haefner +100000
Brady Calkins +100000
Noah Kent +100000
Yuta Sugiura +100000
Lanto Griffin +100000
Justin Hicks +100000
Will Chandler +100000
Trevor Gutschewski +100000
Brian Campbell +100000
Scott Vincent +100000
Thriston Lawrence +100000
Chandler Blanchet +100000
George Kneiser +100000
Trent Phillips +100000
Zachery Pollo +100000
Frankie Harris +100000
Bryan Lee +100000
Jackson Buchanan +100000
Philip Barbaree +100000
Cameron Tankersley +100000
Justin Hastings +100000
Guido Migliozzi +100000
Nick Dunlap +100000
Preston Summerhays +100000
George Duangmanee +100000
Zac Blair +100000
Jose Luis Ballester Barrio +100000
Roberto Díaz +100000
Austen Truslow +100000
Harrison Ott +100000
Zach Bauchou +100000
Lance Simpson +100000
Maxwell Moldovan +100000
Chase Johnson +100000
Riki Kawamoto +100000