LOS ANGELES – When it comes to major championships the betting action gets varied with multiple markets popping up and this year’s U.S. Open from Los Angeles Country Club is no exception.

Of course, you can bet on your outright winner, or your top 5, 10, 20, 40 places. You can lean on first round leader markets. You can take tournament match ups or round by round match ups amongst three balls. You can choose the best from a nation or continent… the list goes on.

Now before you head down the rabbit hole to find the plethora of choices, I’ve decided to get you started. Here’s a sample of 5 bet types you may have missed before play gets underway at LACC.

WINNER WITHOUT

The players atop the betting boards are there for a reason. The data and their recent play have them as favorites and while people love to pick an underdog it can be hard to do when the first two majors this season were won by high profile guys who’ve been there and done it before.

So why not just eliminate them from the discussion! At BetMGM you can pick the winner without Scottie Scheffler, Jon Rahm, Rory McIlroy or Brooks Koepka.

This really opens up options on players who are yet to win a major and could find themselves battling against one of the aforementioned stars down the stretch.

For me, England’s Tyrrell Hatton at +2500 pops here. He’s third on the PGA TOUR in Strokes Gained: Total, seventh Tee to Green and eighth Off the Tee – all important facets for recent U.S. Open winners.

TOP DEBUTANT

Given the ‘open’ nature of the U.S. Open it is obviously full of qualifiers, amateurs and pros alike, who find themselves in their first U.S. Open.

Each has a unique story to tell and find themselves in a great space of opportunity. It wasn’t that long ago back in 2017 that an upstart rookie named Xander Schauffele tied for fifth at Erin Hills in the U.S. Open.

Will we see that from college standout Gordon Sargent after his lessons learned at the Masters? If you think so he’s +1200 in the top debutant market. Maybe you think it can be Cam Davis at +600. The Aussie has played in a Presidents Cup before a U.S. Open and is coming off a T4 at the recent PGA Championship.

RORY McILROY RD 1 SPECIALS

If you’re like me and love Rory but have stayed away from picking him lately for a victory… well there are other ways to get involved with the four-time major winner.

While I’m not an advocate of the three-time FedExCup winner going bogey free (+1600) or even shooting 69 or lower (-125) I do like the look of the +110 on offer for him to birdie the opening hole.

The first hole at LACC is the most straight forward par 5 they’ll play this week and despite the fact I’ve witnessed McIlroy firsthand missing par 5 greens with wedges in the last few weeks I’m prepared to say he can get after it from the get-go in Los Angeles.

Other options include to make five or more birdies/eagles (+105) and to make an eagle (+600).

The same categories are on offer for the likes of Jon Rahm, Scottie Scheffler and Brooks Koepka also.

FIRST ROUND SCORE OVER/UNDER

With LACC to play to a par 70 and the fact that U.S. Open’s are notoriously tough there is an interesting dichotomy when it comes to how scoring might look.

Will par be a great score or will it leave you slightly off the pace? The last three winners were 6-under at the end of play.

The biggest liability at BetMGM in both outright and first round leader bets is Max Homa despite the fact he’s never finished higher than T47 at a U.S. Open and has struggled at majors in general.

If you are a Homa believer in his hometown of Los Angeles but just can’t commit all the way… you can get +100 that his opening round will be under par. Remember he does hold the course record of 61!

MAKE / MISS CUT

At the U.S. Open the 36-hole cut will be the low 60 and ties from the 156 entrants – down from the regular PGA TOUR mark of top 65 and ties.

While the field is absolutely stacked with quality players there are always a few names who fail to make the weekend that surprise. We all expect Scottie Scheffler to make the final two rounds but there is generally value finding the top-level player who doesn’t.

One name that jumps out here is Collin Morikawa at +220 to miss the cut. Why is this intriguing given he’s a proven major winner AND a Los Angeles native who has played at LACC before?

Well, it was less than two weeks ago he was forced to WD from the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday despite being two off the 54-hole lead due to back spasms. Morikawa says he’s pain free but will tee his ball up differently as a precaution… back injuries are no joke and we may not know the full extent until he takes his first competitive swing on Thursday.