Tiger Woods’ former coach names his three dark horses to win the US Open, including one past champion

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While the PGA Championship saw several star players head to Quail Hollow in outstanding form, one player appears to stand out as the overwhelming favourite ahead of the US Open, with Scottie Scheffler winning three times since The Masters.

It would not surprise many if Scottie Scheffler moved to within one win of the career grand slam this week, with the world number one in superb form ahead of the US Open.

He has won The CJ CUP Byron Nelson by eight, the PGA Championship by five and The Memorial Tournament by four.

And given the importance of limiting mistakes around Oakmont, it is hard to look past the 28-year-old for the US Open.

Hank Haney names three dark horses to win the US Open at Oakmont

But plenty went into the PGA Championship struggling to see anyone other than Rory McIlroy winning. He had removed the monkey off his back by winning The Masters, and had a phenomenal record at Quail Hollow.

So his performance in Charlotte acts as a warning to Scheffler ahead of the US Open. But it also gives hope to some of those who will be going under the radar a little.

And speaking on The Hank Haney Podcast, Hank Haney picked out three players he could see in contention to win the third major of the year.

“I’ll give you a couple of dark horses. Here’s a dark horse for you: Keegan Bradley is a dark horse. Akshay Bhatia is a dark horse. I like those two guys’ games, those would be my dark horse. And Justin Rose, I’d give a little bet to Justin Rose. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him do something. He’s a former US Open winner, won at Merion, not far from Oakmont. So those would be my big picks right there,” he said.

The one-time major winners of the US Open since 2000

There have been 10 players since 2000 who have won their one major title at the US Open, including Justin Rose.

The run started with Jim Furyk in 2003, while five of the last six US Opens have been won by players who have not won another major. Jon Rahm is the only exception in that run.

Of course, Bradley has also already won a major, having triumphed at the 2011 PGA Championship.

Bhatia looks to have the talent to win a major at some stage. He was hugely impressive at The Players Championship, and could have definitely won had his putter got hot on Sunday at TPC Sawgrass.

The problem is the gulf to the five or six names at the top of the game is seemingly getting larger right now.

But perhaps someone could indeed end up having the week of their life at Oakmont.