By Peter Moore
This week will see the third golfing major of the year with the 123rd US Open taking place at Los Angeles on the North Course for the first time.
First staged back I 1895 and won by Horace Rawlins of England, the US Open has been a 72-hole stroke play event since 1898.
The North Course is a par 70 consisting of 7,423 yards and will be used for the first time in a major championship.
Last year the event was won by Englishman Matt Fitzpatrick with a total of six under par.
World number one Scottie Scheffler hasn’t finished outside the top 12 all year round. His recent form of 5-2-3-3 suggests a man who is in the form of his life at the moment.
He finished third at the Memorial Tournament last time out and is a player to be feared.
This year’s US Masters winner and world number two Jon Rahm comes into this tournament having lost his way a bit of late. In the US PGA Championship, he finished 50th and 16th in the Memorial Tournament.
Brooks Koepka has played Riviera four times with a highest placed finish of 38. However, his recent US Open form of 1-1-24-55 are very encouraging. His 55th place finish last year was at a time when he was totally out of form, but if in the mood and everything runs his way, he could well be on course to lift his third US Open title.
Rory McIlroy looked to be in contention at the Canadian Open this weekend, having been only two shots behind going into the final day, only to have a poor round which left him well behind eventual winner Nick Taylor.
The Irishman is still hunting down his sixth major, with the wait to win his latest major taking increasingly longer than he would of expected.
It is now a dozen years since his first Us Open win and nine years since his fifth, however he has finished inside the top ten in each of the last four Opens.
Viktor Hovland is still yet to win a major, but this season’s form bodes well that his first major title can’t be that far away.
The Norwegian has finished seventh in the US Masters and second to Koepka at Oak Hill.
The North Course should be ideal for him and suit his type of play for the world number five and could well end up being the leading European on show.
England’s Tommy Fleetwood came withing touching distance of lifting the Canadian Open, before finishing behind winner Taylor in a dramatic play off which saw the Canadian sink a 72 foot put to win the event.
The likeable Fleetwood has already shown this season he is a player who could well lift a major as is Justin Rose who is playing the most consistent golf of his life.