Scottie Scheffler heavily backed favorite to begin U.S. Open week

Scottie Scheffler has won three of his past four starts, including the most recent major at the PGA Championship, so it's little surprise that he began U.S. Open week as the heavy pre-tournament favorite.

Scheffler's short odds aren't dissuading the public so far.

The No. 1-ranked player in the world is being offered at +275 at DraftKings, where he leads the field with 31 percent of the total bets and 33 percent of the money backing Scheffler to claim his first U.S. Open title this week. The next closest is two-time U.S. Open winner and defending champion Bryson DeChambeau, who has drawn 14 and 22 percent of the action, respectively, at +900.

Interestingly, world No. 2 Rory McIlroy has received modest support with only 3 percent of the total bets and money while sporting the second shortest odds at +850. McIlroy won't his first Masters in April but missed the cut at the RBC Canadian Open after posting a T47 at the PGA Championship.

The story has been largely similar at BetMGM, where Scheffler is the book's biggest liability as he leads the way with 31.3 percent of the money backing him while he odds have shortened from +500 to +275. DeChambeau is the second-biggest liability thus far, drawing 16.7 percent of the money and seeing his odds shift from +1400 to +750.

However, McIlroy remains firmly in the picture at BetMGM. He is the third-biggest liability, having been backed by 8.4 percent of the money at +1200. The Northern Irishman opened at +900.

Also seeing his odds lengthen is Xander Schauffele, who has struggled to regain the form that saw him claim a pair of majors last year. He opened at +1100 to win the U.S. Open but was sitting at +2200 by Monday.

Perhaps no player has seen a bigger shift than Brooks Koepka, the two-time U.S. Open champ who opened at +1800. Having failed to win on the LIV Golf tour this year while missing the cut at the Masters and PGA Championship, Koepka's odds at BetMGM have ballooned to +6600.

Another popular choice at both books has been young Swedish star Ludvig Aberg. He has yet to win a major, although he did finish second at last year's Masters and T12 at the U.S. Open.

Aberg, who has posted a part of top-20s since missing the cut at the PGA, has drawn 4 percent of the total bets and money at +3500 at DraftKings. He also sports somewhat longshot odds at +2500 at BetMGM, where Aberg has been backed by 5.6 and 3.9 percent of the action, respectively, since opening at +1600.

--Field Level Media