US Women’s Open predictions: Maguire to make amends for major hiccup
- The US Women’s Open is being staged at Pebble Beach for the first time
- Rose Zhang is the course record holder with a nine-under par 63
- Recommended bets
- Leona Maguire to win and each-way
- Hyo Joo Kim to win and each-way
- Megan Khang top-10 finish
The US Women’s Open, the third major of the year, will be fought out at Pebble Beach, the first time the LPGA has visited the famous Californian links since 1951.
Rose Zhang, the 20-year-old Californian who shot a course record 63 there last year, and world No.1 Jin Young Ko are among the favourites.
But on a course that many of the competitors do not know well and with a slew of genuine contenders taking part, this promises to be wide open.
Maguire looking to avenge Baltusrol bodyblow
Ireland’s Leona Maguire will be on many a shortlist even though she blotted her copybook slightly at Baltusrol in the PGA Championship last month.
Maguire had been in serene form, the only player to shoot three rounds in the 60s on the gruelling New Jersey lay-out, only to plummet down the leaderboard on the Sunday courtesy of a dispiriting and out-of-character 74.
Do not, however, question the bottle of a player who was steeliness itself on her Solheim Cup debut in 2021 when she went unbeaten.
She has also won on the LPGA Tour this summer, triumphing at the Meijer LPGA Classic and boasts a level of consistency that few can match right now. Maguire can be backed at 20/1 with LiveScore Bet.
Consistent Kim should not be far away
There are plenty of fancied Koreans teeing it up on the Pacific shoreline this week, among them the ultra-consistent Hyo Joo Kim.
Nine years have elapsed since Kim won her one major title – the Evian Championship – but she is knocking on the door in 2023 with top-20 finishes at both the Chevron and PGA.
Indeed, she has also had four top-10 finishes in just six other starts and leads the tour in scoring (69.4).
Pipped in a four-hole playoff by Ariya Jutanugarn for glory at the 2018 US Open, she has contended since and her consistency this year marks her down as a genuine threat. She can be backed at 18/1 with LiveScore Bet.
Khang’s record points to likely finish
American Megan Khang has yet to win a major but the 25-year-old is getting closer.
In the last three US Opens she has finished 5-4-8 while her efforts in the 2023 majors have yielded a ninth place at the Chevron and third place at last month’s PGA.
She finished 67-67 at Baltusrol to demonstrate she will arrive on the tee at Pebble Beach in good form. Indeed her only top 10s have come in majors this year, emphasising that she is a big-event player and none come any bigger than the US Open.
The 25-year-old can be backed at 10/3 in LiveScorebet's top-10 finish market.