US Open Favorites 2012: Best Bet for Final Pairing on Sunday

The 122nd U.S. Open Championship begins Thursday at The Olympic Club in San Francisco.  Participants will play for the inaugural Jack Nicklaus Medal.

According to an ESPN.com story: “The medal has been awarded to the winner every year since the U.S. Open began in 1895. It previously did not have a name.”

U.S. Open champions from now on will share a special connection with arguably the greatest golfer in history. Who will take the Golden Bear’s gold for the first time?

Two pairings have gotten most of the attention this week.

One such pairing includes Luke Donald, Rory McIlroy and Lee Westwood—Nos. 1, 2 and 3 in the current world golf rankings. McIlroy will defend his 2011 U.S. Open championship this weekend.

The other pairing making headlines features arguably the two most notable golfers from the past decade: Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson. 2012 Masters champion Bubba Watson will join them at the tee box Thursday and Friday.

Woods and Mickelson will add another chapter to their historic rivalry. Tiger will look to win his fourth U.S. Open championship, while Phil hopes to win his first. Mickelson has finished second in the tournament five times.

The Olympic Club will host its first U.S. Open championship since 1998.

This course has a history of taking seemingly guaranteed victories away from the favorites heading into the final day. If history rules over this group of golfers, one of these six stars could lead after Saturday’s play but then lose that lead on Sunday.

Look for someone to win his first U.S. Open championship this weekend. Maybe Zach Johnson?

Johnson, currently ranked 18th in the world, has either won or finished runner-up in three of his last five outings following the 2012 Masters. He will look to rebound from missing the cut at the FedEx St. Jude Classic last weekend.

Johnson will play with two other golfers who established themselves alongside Woods and Mickelson: Retief Goosen and Vijay Singh.

Johnson, despite a strong spring, is not even the highest-ranked Johnson on tour.

That honor belongs to fellow American Dustin Johnson. Dustin won the FedEx St. Jude Classic last weekend. Will Dustin win in consecutive tournaments and prove he is better than Zach?

Will an American even win the U.S. Open?

Some under-the-radar Europeans in the field include Sergio Garcia, who has still failed to win a major championship. Garcia tied for seventh last year at the United States national championship.

He will pair with Graeme McDowell, who won the 2010 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, and American Jim Furyk, who won the 2003 U.S. Open at Olympia Fields.

What about Steve Stricker? Stricker won the first tournament of 2012, the Hyundai Tournament of Champions. Since then, he has not won and has dropped from fifth to 11th in the world rankings.

In 2011, Stricker won the last tournament he competed in before the U.S. Open, as well as the first tournament he competed in after the U.S. Open. This weekend seems like a good one to turn his bad luck around.

Considering what has happened at The Olympic Club in past U.S. Open tournaments held there, even these guesses could be too high up the world ranking list.

Legends like Ben Hogan, Arnold Palmer and Tom Watson have all lost the lead on Sunday at this course. The favorites to win here are really the favorites to lose in the final moments.

Another surprise comes in the form of amateur Andy Zhang. Zhang, at 14 years old, will be the youngest ever to play at the U.S. Open championship. He is also the first Chinese-born U.S. Open participant.

Zhang is not just a newly minted teenager playing with professionals.

In an interview with Golf Week, famous golf instructor David Leadbetter said of Zhang: “He has a 24-year-old head on a 14-year-old body.”

Could Zhang shock the world and win the U.S. Open as a 14-year-old amateur? Technically yes, but not likely.

Will Colt Knost win? He won the 2007 U.S. Amateur Championship at this very course. As the 222nd ranked golfer in the world, this result is again unlikely, but at least he has won a prestigious tournament here before.

Watching the final round of the U.S. Open is one of the great Father’s Day traditions. Which two gentlemen will follow the rest to the 18th hole?

Phil Mickelson will lead heading into Sunday. He seems like a perfect candidate, considering he has finished second five times. Also, he is one of the biggest names in golf. Alvaro Quiros will join him in the final two.

Why Alvaro Quiros? Quiros, the 40th ranked player in the world, hit a hole-in-one on the par-4 seventh hole in Wednesday’s practice round. Luck could be on his side this weekend.

Mickelson will collapse in the final round of his national championship again. Quiros will provide the knockout punch.

Even the most knowledgeable PGA fan might want to pick the name of his or her tournament favorite out of a hat when the world’s best take on The Olympic Club. Save the educated guesses for second place.