We are approaching the opening tee shot at the U.S. Open and big time bets are starting to roll in.

John Ewing of BetMGM recently tweeted out where the money is coming in for first round leader.

Sure, Viktor Hovland is receiving the highest percentage of total bets at 7.2%, but the most notable thing is Homa is receiving 14.7% of money.

The best way to determine where sharp and professional bettors are placing their money, look at the handle percentage. Handle means the total amount of money, and we know that sharp bettors place large bets.

So, while the casual bettors are backing Hovland, the pro bettors who are placing a lot of money on their wagers, are backing Homa.

Let's dive into this a little bit further.

US Open First Round Leader odds

Max Homa is 40/1 to be the first round leader at the US Open and there's reason to believe he could do exactly that.

Not only has Homa done well at LACC specifically, but on the PGA Tour he has the third best score to par at California events since 2020.

So, there's lots of reasons to like the former California Golden Bear this week. With that being said, there are some red flags as well. The main one being his complete lack of success at major events. Outside of a T13 finish at last year's PGA Championship, he has no finishes of 39th or better at any of the four majors. At the U.S. Open, he has missed the cut twice and finished T47 over the last three years.

Whether or not he ends up playing well this week, he should at least feel comfortable at LACC when he tees it up on Thursday.

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Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.