Five outsiders to watch for at the US Open

Never mind Tiger and Rory, what you need to lift your spirits, and your bank balance, is an outsider to win the US Open. Here’s five who might do the trick for you.

The US Open often throws up first time winners and we fully expect another new name to join the list of Major winners this week in San Francisco.

So that means we don’t fancy Tiger, Rory, Graeme or Padraig this week. Phil, Bubba and Louis Oosthuizen are all off our radar too as we go looking for those longer odds winners. The likes of Luke Donald, Lee Westwood, Dustin Johnson and Matt Kuchar are all looking for that elusive first Major and have to be considered but here’s five less fancied names who could do the trick on Sunday evening.

Kevin Na 150/1

You might remember Na as the golfer who shot a beautiful 68 on the final day of the Masters, capping a fine week by finishing in 12^th. A sloppy Saturday cost him a top 10 finish and the Korean American has all the attributes to go even closer here. Ranked 13th on the PGA tour in driving accuracy, few are better off the tee. He might be painfully slow to watch but he is way overpriced at 150/1.

Aaron Baddeley 100/1

Okay, the Aussie is not especially long, or accurate, off the tee so he has those rather large drawbacks but he does have one sparkling ability; putting. According to the rather complex stat called ‘Strokes Gained Putting’ Baddeley comes out on top.

Aaron Baddeley can 'putt' it away this week

Essentially it means he is better than everyone else on Tour at holing putts, a pretty good skill to have on the greens this week. The dance floors at Olympic Club are small and packed with bunkers so his sand-save ranking of sixth is another good sign.

John Senden 125/1

Another Aussie and at 41 he is past the point most make a breakthrough. But he is very accurate off the tee and one of the best (sixth) in terms of greens in regulation. Has three Top 10 finishes this year but they were near the start of the year. Has missed a few cuts since but we still think he can cause a surprise this weekend.

Jonathan Byrd 66/1

The most consistent player on the PGA Tour this year, Byrd has finished 9^th, 12^th, 10^th and 6^th in his last four tournaments and has five Top 10 finishes this season. He has yet to win, and his distinctly average stats don’t appear to reflect his play, but nobody will enter the gates of Olympic in a happier mood with his game.

Martin Laird 100/1

His record in Majors is appalling (seven cuts from 10 attempts) but we have always liked the Scot and his long drives will certainly give him an advantage on the monster 670-yard Par 5 16^th. His second place at the Players Championship showed he can handle the big stage and he is too good not to click and be in with a shout at a Major soon. It just might be this week.