U.S. Open 2017 Odds: Early Lines and Predictions for Top Sleepers in the Field

The U.S. Open champions list features some of the best golfers to ever play the sport, such as Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player and Tiger Woods.

But every year, like clockwork, we see a few sleepers creep up the leaderboards on Saturday and hang around on Sunday.

Here are three golfers who aren't considered favorites at the start of this year's Open Thursday but will be around the top of the leaderboard on the major's final day.

Louis Oosthuizen: 55-1

Frankly, it's strange to see Oosthuizen have 55-1 odds to win the U.S. Open. He has finished in first or second in four majors since 2010, and he's made the cut 12 of 13 times at majors since 2014.

During that span, Oosthuizen has finished no worse than 41st in those 12 majors and managed top-25 finishes eight times.

Put simply, Oosthuizen has a very good track record in majors. Coupled with his excellent form this season (he has made all 11 of his cuts and finished top 10 in two events), Oosthuizen could be on track for a great weekend in Wisconsin.

Erin Hills sets up well for Oosthuizen as well. Successful golfers will need to hit it long and straight, and every part of their short game will be tested since Erin Hills has nasty bunkers and rough.

Oosthuizen is above average in driving distance (tied for 69th on the PGA Tour) and accuracy (63rd), which bodes well for him finding success this week.

Pick: Oosthuizen will finish in the top three and fall just short of winning the U.S. Open to Dustin Johnson.

Francesco Molinari: 90-1

Only one player (Steve Stricker) can say he has a better driving distance percentage than Molinari, who finds the fairway 71.71 percent of the time.

Driving accuracy will be crucial this year, as Erin Hills offers a multitude of traps for golfers who don't keep their drives straight.

Kevin Na showed his Instagram followers just how dangerous the rough is at Erin Hills and added this comment: "Erin Hills is a great design course but the fescue is almost unplayable. BTW never found the ball. So don't hit it in there lol. straight hitters have a chance!"

Molinari is also in good form, making 13 of 14 PGA Tour cuts this year. He recently finished second in the BMW PGA Championship.

Pick: Expect Molinari to stay out of trouble and register a top-five finish.

Byeong Hun An: 100-1

An is on fire this year, making 14 of 15 cuts and finishing in the top 10 in three tournaments.

Although he does not have the major track record that other golfers do, An is playing so well this year that it only seems like a matter of time before he breaks out and plays a great four days of golf on the big stage.

An is one of the longest hitters on the PGA Tour, with drives averaging 298.4 yards. That's crucial at a course like Erin Hills, which is over 7,800 yards in length. Longer hitters should benefit from the course layout, and An is no exception. 

He's also 15th in strokes gained: tee-to-green to boot, which ranks better than major winners such as Adam Scott, Phil Mickelson and Jason Dufner.

Pick: Look for An to have a big weekend in Wisconsin capped by his fourth top-10 finish of the season.

All odds are via OddsShark, and all statistics are via the PGA Tour's website.