Jim Furyk (in action in practice) - headline tip.

By Dave Tindall

Sky Bet's Odds Compare All Prices

BETTING BOX
FIXED ODDS
	2pts e.w. Jim Furyk at 33/1 (General 1/4 1,2,3,4,5).	Great US Open record, two wins this year and should thrive in conditions.
	1pt e.w. Retief Goosen at 51/1 (Blue Square 1/3 1,2,3,4,5).	Two-time winner of this event and hard, fast conditions are right up his street.
	1pt e.w. Adam Scott at 60/1 (Sportingbet 1/4 1,2,3,4,5).	A winner in Texas two starts ago and recent US Opens have rewarded the very talented.
	0.5pts e.w. Tom Lehman to be first round leader at 200/1 (Betfred 1/4 1,2,3,4,5).	In fine form and has shot plenty of low R1 scores this year.
	1pt Tom Lehman to finish in the top five at 60/1 (Boylesports, VC Bet, Sportingbet).	Great US Open and Pebble record and can still cut it on the regular Tour. This year's Watson/Norman.
	1pt Tom Lehman to finish in the top 10 at 25/1 (Sky Bet).	Ditto.
	1pt e.w. Miguel Angel Jimenez at 200/1 (Coral, Hills, VC Bet 1/4 1,2,3,4,5).	Runner-up here in 2000, T6 in 2008 US Open along the coast, a winner this year and T8 last time out.

The views are always stunning at Pebble Beach but so often the early-season regular US Tour event held there is hampered by poor weather.

But expect something very different for this year's US Open.

Writing on Twitter on Tuesday morning, seven-time US Tour winner Zach Johnson said: "Pebble looks great!! Playing very fast...ball rolling like crazy! And, no rain in forecast..should be perfect."

That's a relief after last year's mudfest at Bethpage and also suggests a greater emphasis on controlling your golf ball than just blasting it long.

With its tiny greens, Pebble has always required precision although long hitters can flourish there too as Dustin Johnson has proved by winning the last two runnings of the Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

Whether Pebble form from a pro-am in February is relevant to a US Open in June is debatable. And it's worth noting that most of the leading finishers at the last US Open held here were not Pebble Beach pro-am regulars so that's why I'm not drawn to Johnson.

GB and Ireland provided three of of the top seven in 2000 and with two of those being Padraig Harrington and Nick Faldo - winners of five Open Championships between them - a talent for links golf would certainly seem to be relevant.

We can extend that line of thinking by looking at the top two from 2000 - Tiger Woods (a three-time Open champ) and Ernie Els (holder of an amazing Open record with a win and 11 other top 10s).

Els could be a contender but his putting seems to have deserted him again so the player with the fine Open record I like at a similar price is Jim Furyk at 33s.

Furyk can boast four top fives in the Open Championship and, of course, his record in this event is fantastic.

The Pennsylvanian plotter won it at Olympia Fields in 2003 and was runner-up in both 2006 (Winged Foot) and 2007 (Oakmont).

All three of those came on courses not defined by great distance so with Pebble measuring in at just 7,040 yards and running fast it should play into his hands.

Furyk's price of 33/1 is curiously big as not only is his record in this event superb, his 2010 form is fantastic too.

The Ryder Cup ace has already won twice - the Transitions Championship and the Verizon Heritage (with small greens like Pebble) - and his last start produced a top 10 at Memorial.

Add in Pebble Beach Pro-Am form which shows a third, a fourth, a fifth and a sixth and his credentials look rock solid. Take the 33/1.

Now for my real shot in the dark.

Tom Watson and Greg Norman have shown that the old boys can still make serious bids for majors on courses which require brain rather than brawn.

And given that we've established a link between British Open form and Pebble, how about siding with 1996 Lytham champ Tom Lehman.

Lehman comes to Pebble on the back of a win in the Senior PGA Championship so he's on a real high and in four starts on the main tour this season he's managed a 14th, a 16th and a 41st at Memorial on his last start. In other words, he can still take on the flatbellies.

He showed his love of hard, fast links golf when winning at a very benign Lytham (the same weather is predicted this week) and, of course, in the US Open he had a memorable spell where he went out in the final group four years in a row between 1995 and 1998.

Although he failed to actually win one (he ended third, second, third and fifth), Lehman was an each-way punter's dream over that period and clearly this test suits him.

You can throw Pebble form into the mix too. He was sixth in the 1992 US Open held here, 23rd in 2000 and in the regular season pro-am he has racked up six top 10s including a runners-up finish in 2003.

He's 300/1 to win it - just a bit too far-fetched - but it's certainly worth taking the 60/1 for a place, 25/1 a top 10 and some 200/1 for being the first round leader.

Lehman has opened with 66s in two of his four regular US Tour starts this season while on the Seniors his six first round efforts read 65, 66, 67, 74, 67, 68.

There's often a 'story' featuring a veteran on day one and Lehman could be the man to make the headlines on Thursday.

Back to the main market and my next pick is two-time US Open champion Retief Goosen.

The Goose won the second of his titles on a wildly fast-running Shinnecock in 2004 so this week's 'going' suits him and he has further excelled on links courses in the Open Championship (seven top 10s including a fifth at Turnberry last time).

He's more of a dark horse than usual this week as he hasn't hogged the limelight as much as his peers in 2010.

But his record shows three top fives in strokeplay events and also a tied 15th in St Jude last week where he closed with a trio of 68s.

As for Pebble form, he was a sneaky 12th here back in 2000 and, at that stage of his career, it was his best performance by a mile at a major on US soil.

More than anything, Goosen has the necessary patience to excel in a US Open so the 45/1 with 1/3 the odds for a top five at Blue Square should not be missed.

Having finished as top European in 2000 when runner-up to Tiger alongside Els, Miguel Angel Jimenez clearly gets on well with Pebble Beach.

So it's a bit insulting that he's put up as a 200/1 chance.

The veteran Spaniard seemed a veteran 10 years ago but he's lost none of his ability and already this year he's beaten a top-class field in Dubai and finished 12th at Augusta.

Last week he putted the lights out when finishing eighth at Celtic Manor so, in my view, he has far better credentials than many of the trendier English and European challengers who are a fraction of his price.

Jimenez was also sixth in the 2008 US Open at Torrey Pines so he clearly likes playing on this coast of America and offers some real value.

I want to get a Brit on board but the prices just seem too prohibitive. Lee Westwood is almost bound to go well but 12/1? No thanks.

Tiger remains impossible to call while Phil Mickelson's record in majors when not playing the week before suggests he should have put Memphis on his schedule.

I backed Luke Donald at 80s a few weeks ago but the best priced 40s now offers no value.

So I'll end by adding an Aussie - Adam Scott at 60/1.

Scott, who had been in the doldrums, reduced his 'to do' list when scoring his first win on home Australian soil back in December and if your saw the pictures of the New South Wales Golf Club you'll know why some course reviews compare it to Pebble.

He's continued to climb up the world rankings by posting a recent US Tour win in Texas and his second place in the Greens In Regulation stats in 2010 shows how well he's been striking the ball.

If his putter works the way it did in Texas he'll have the full package and recent US Opens have been kind to talented players looking for a first major - e.g. Campbell, Ogilvy, Cabrera, Glover.

Scott has finished 36th or better in four of his last five US Opens and although that's hardly pulling up trees it is a foundation from which to throw in a really big one.

He's grouped with fellow Aussies Allenby and Ogilvy in the first two rounds so should be nice and relaxed and the 60/1 looks a fair price.

Enjoy the views and hopefully we can bank some big profits.