US Open Golf 2012: Rickie Fowler and Sleepers to Watch out for

I've got a tip for you. Never bet on a favorite at the U.S Open. 

Yes, there is the occasional Rory McIlroy win or the more-than-occasional Tiger-Woods-in-his-prime win, but more often than not, someone who you aren't expecting will propel the U.S Open Trophy above his head. 

Just look at some of the past winners.

Graeme McDowell. Lucas Glover. Angel Cabrera. Geoff Ogilvy. Michael Campbell. Uh, yeah, those guys. 

Don't be surprised if another non-big name wins again in 2012, especially considering the fact that Olympic Club will be a painfully tough course. 

Let's take a look at what sleepers will surprise this year. 

Rickie Fowler (World No. 20)

Rickie Fowler, I can't quit you. 

I want to, mostly because your mustache reminds of Adam Morrison, and Adam Morrison reminds me of crying and poorly-played basketball. But also because your orange jumpsuit reminds of something I used to wear to ironically be funny.

But I can't. You're too awesome, your style is too perfect for golf, and most importantly for the sake of this article, you've been on fire on the links lately.

You know, except for that fourth-round 84 at the Memorial Tournament in early June. 

Before the Memorial, however, Fowler shot well under par in four straight tournaments, finishing 10th, first, second and fifth. With the exception of that extremely poor round, Fowler has arguably been the best golfer in the world over the past month-and-a-half.

I'm not quitting him now, and I'm not quitting him ever. Fowler is my No. 1 pick to win the tournament. There, I said it. 

Kevin Na (World No. 51)

Zzzzz.

Oh, sorry, I was just waiting for Kevin Na to take a shot and nodded away a little bit. 

Seriously though, Na is one of the most deliberate golfers in the world. If he doesn't feel confident in what he's about to do, he'll step back and assess the situation for another seven or so minutes. Some may not like his style, but he's smart and he won't make many mistakes. 

And that's going to be especially important at Olympic Club (via Andy North from ESPN.com):

"

For those of you who haven’t been there, the golf course is basically built on the side of a hill, and you have a lot of doglegs that work their way around that hill, and because of that, it’s a very difficult driving golf course.  You can hit good tee shots because of the slope on the fairways, particularly if it’s fast and firm, it will end up in the rough.

So I think it’s going to be a premium on driving, and the player that wins this week will have to put the ball on the fairway.

"

The necessity to just play things safe is going to benefit Na, who is 14th in the world in driving accuracy and just doesn't overdo things. 

Na has a great chance of winning this tournament. It's just unfortunate that most people will have fallen asleep waiting for him to tee off on the last hole. 

Mark Wilson (World No. 39)

Because as I mentioned before, the winner of this tournament is going to be whoever you least expect.

And with the way Wilson has been playing lately, there's absolutely no way you should expect him to win. 

Wilson's last 10 tournaments: 30th, 45th, 55th, 59th, cut, 24th (nice!), cut, cut, 66th and 66th. Eesh.

Still though, Wilson has a win and another top-five finish under his belt this season, and more importantly, he is sixth in the world in driving accuracy, which I already noted will be the most important factor of the week. 

Sportsbook.ag has Wilson's odds of winning the tournament at 150-to-1. It's not quite 10,000-to-1, but Kevin from The Office taught me that you should always take good odds. 

These are good odds for Wilson's style of play, and I'm willing to bet he shocks the world. 

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