Sam Torrance: Phil Mickelson would be the fairytale winner but Jon Rahm has justified favourite status at the US Open
Another month, another major and this time it’s the turn of the US Open at Torrey Pines.
A revamped golf calendar has squeezed major season into just 15 weeks, which leaves the rest of the year a bit barren but is great when you are in the thick of it, as we are now.
The players like it too, even if it leaves little time to rediscover form in between the events.
One man who will be hoping to pick up where he left off is Jon Rahm.
The Spaniard was denied almost certain victory at Muirfield Village earlier this month when forced to retire from the Memorial Tournament by a positive test for Covid-19 when six shots clear with one round to play.
Rahm handled that unfortunate situation beautifully and will be bursting to get out there and play again.
He also has incredibly strong form at the Farmers Insurance Open, most of which is played on Torrey Pines’ South Course, the venue for this US Open.
Rahm holed a 60ft putt for eagle at the 18th on his way to winning his maiden PGA Tour title there in 2017 and was second last year too.
Those memories will give him fantastic belief this week and I think he is a justified favourite with the bookmakers.
I would love to see Lee Westwood win the US Open, but if he doesn’t I’d be very happy for Rahm to bag a major for Europe.
DeChambeau erratic ahead of US Open defence
World No3 Rahm has shown the most recent promise of the players at the top of the world rankings.
Bryson DeChambeau’s rounds have had flashes of brilliance but have also been strewn with errors.
That’s not a scenario you want at the US Open, which is a lot about damage limitation.
If you mess up in this major you tend to be punished, and I’ve always been a fan of that.
Having said that, DeChambeau did of course win this tournament last year and it wouldn’t be a complete surprise if he did it again.
World No7 Patrick Cantlay is one of the top-ranked players who is in good form.
He won the Memorial after Rahm’s forced retirement by hitting a lot of greens and fairways. That consistency can serve him well at this US Open.
Collin Morikawa was second to Cantlay last time out and is one of the best iron players out there.
Patrick Reed can’t be ignored, having won by five shots at Torrey Pines in January and finished fifth at Muirfield Village.
He’s a former Masters champion so knows how to win majors and has balls of steel.
Viktor Hovland was among a group tied for second behind Reed earlier this year.
Hovland, 23, is a megastar in the making and could certainly break through here.
Will Zalatoris, a surprise runner-up at the Masters, is another to watch.
The 24-year-old Californian is yet to win on the PGA Tour but has been top 10 in his last three majors and will feel at home in West Coast conditions.
Mickelson’s best chance of Grand Slam in a decade
If there is to be a fairytale winner, however, there is only one candidate.
Most people thought Phil Mickelson had won his last major until he defied long odds and his 50 years to win the US PGA Championship last month.
If he were to win back-to-back majors this week it would make him only the sixth man to complete the career Grand Slam.
San Diego native Mickelson knows this course well and has won here three times on the PGA Tour. He has also been runner-up in the US Open on six occasions – so he is due one.
It would be an incredible story, reflected by the fact that some bookies have priced him at 70/1.
But he has proven that he can still do it, he is confident and fit.
He’s got something that he may have thought had gone: a shot at the US Open when in form.
And this might just be his best chance at the tournament in 10 years.
Sam Torrance OBE is a multiple Ryder Cup-winning golfer and media commentator. Follow him on Twitter @torrancesam.