GPP Data Review: U.S. Open

The U.S. Open each year is always my favorite major championship, and Oakmont delivered in every way imaginable. Professional golfers can get way too comfortable on the prototypical PGA Tour setups that don’t have a way of separating who is playing the best that week. This past week, every single part of a player’s game was challenged. Fairways weren’t a requisite but still had its premium, especially when conditions were ramped up over the weekend. Distance though was the most impactful, as being accurate off the tee was not very easy, so putting yourself closer to the hole and praying for a good lie in the rough was a clear strategy. Irons weren’t as relevant as we are used to, because putting any approach shot close was nearly impossible, but giving yourself easy par putts via greens in regulation gave us old-school golf. I do struggle with the around-the-green challenge, as the luck factor was massive here, and that thick rough really doesn’t require the skill that let the best shine. Ultimately, I’d say there was a clear argument that it was a bit of a putting contest, too. Mainly around how many shaky par saves could you hole to just stick around that leaderboard. But if I had to sum up with one word how this event plays out each year, it really is grit, and that’s why I love the U.S. Open. Every part of J.J. Spaun’s tournament and, you could argue, career, has been centered around digging deep. He’s not a prototypical PGA Tour superstar when it comes to his statistics, but the stories around developing the belief that he has really got me. It was clear at the Players Championship that he knows he does belong in that top tier, and for the many who are arguing about the flukiness of this setup leading to an improbable winner, they just haven’t really investigated the way J.J. Spaun has evolved this year. The birdie at the last was just such a cool way to win it as well!

All that and more will be in play next year at Shinnecock Hills, which quite possibly is even more of a beast than Oakmont. But before we get ahead of ourselves for the 2026 major championships, we must study up on how the field approached this week. Like we spoke about on Establish The Green, I really thought DraftKings butchered the pricing structure of the U.S. Open. Scheffler at his peak of $14,400 was necessary, but the softness from there on out, especially in the $6Ks and low $7Ks, made rostering him very simple. Despite the result, too, I definitely think the biggest mispricing was Bryson DeChambeau at $11,000. You just aren’t getting golfers with 10% win equity at that low of a price point, and because of the $5K floor, it was actually quite easy to roster him and Scheffler together. That transitions me well to my MME portfolio, as those two were the clear top-owned players for me this week.