5 Potential First-Time Major Winners At The US Open

Could a first-time Major winner triumph at the 2020 US Open? Here we look at five potential candidates...

5 Potential First-Time Major Winners At The US Open

The US Open returns to Winged Foot where Geoff Ogilvy won his first and sole Major in 2006.

Will there be another first-time winner this time out? Below, we pick out five first-timers who could lift the trophy...

Jon Rahm

Rahm got to world number one in 2020, had a couple of huge victories at The Memorial Tournament and BMW Championship, and there does not appear to be a weak link in his game.

Considering Winged Foot is going to be a total test of every aspect of a players game, then Rahm is definitely one to watch because he drives the ball a long way, his approach play is top-notch, his short-game is excellent and his putting is solid. The time has come for him to get his Major tally off the mark.

Daniel Berger

Aside from Dustin Johnson and possibly Rahm, Berger has been the best player on the planet since the restart. He has had a win, a tied 2nd, two third-place finishes and a smattering of other solid results too.

Unbelievably he started the 2020 calendar year outside the top-150 and yet he is currently ranked 13th so Berger is most definitely a player to look out for at Winged Foot.

Xander Schauffele

The 26-year-old was a relatively slow starter compared to rivals like Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas, however he has now asserted himself as one of the game's best players.

Schauffele has won four times on the PGA Tour, including two huge events in the Tour Championship and WGC-HSBC Champions.

He has only played in 12 Majors and he has had two runner-up finishes, a tied 3rd and several other top-10's.

This will be his first professional start at Winged Foot but then again he had never played at Pebble Beach in 2019 where he came 3rd, amd he also came 2nd at Carnoustie when he hadn't played the course before in 2018.

Patrick Cantlay

At 28, Cantlay was and still is in that category with Schauffele as Americans with huge potential.

Cantlay had an incredible amateur career and after a difficult start to life as a pro, he is now a two-time PGA Tour winner and sits inside the world's top-20.

He may not have had a victory since The Memorial in 2019 but he is incredibly consistent as he rarely misses a cut and just seems to be able to grind out results when needed. Winged Foot will require a lot of grinding so Cantlay and his calm demeanour could stand him in good stead in New York.

Hideki Matsuyama

The former World Number 2 has found some form of late.

Matsuyama has some seriously impressive stats on the PGA Tour, like 2nd in SG: Tee to green, 5th in SG: Approach, 5th in SG: Around the Green, and 17th in SG: Total, but there is one glaring statistic and that is his SG: Putting which is down at 170th on Tour.

Despite that awful putting total, he is still 14th on the PGA Tour in scoring average.

He is one of the best ball strikers in the game so really only needs to hole some putts at Winged Foot to stand a chance at lifting the trophy you'd think.

Which potential first-time Major winners do you think could win the US Open at Winged Foot? Let us know on our social media channels

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