3 U.S. Open Contenders From California

It has been an exciting 2022 PGA golf season to date, with the first half of the major slate already completed. Scottie Scheffler kicked off the big time tournament schedule by earning a green jacket in April at Augusta National. In the middle of May, Justin Thomas captured the PGA championship victory in an electrifying playoff against San Francisco native Will Zalatoris. This will set the scene for the final major tournament held in the United States. Golf's best will descend on Brookline, Massachusetts in the middle of June for the 2022 U.S. Open.

The state of California will be well represented at the tournament. Zalatoris will be looking to build off of his strong performance, and could be someone to keep an eye on for those betting on golf. Longer shots from The Golden State include Rickie Fowler and Tiger Woods. The former has struggled on tour this season, missing five cuts, but has finished in the top five in a major eight times. The latter has overcome a plethora of personal and injury obstacles, and is one of the greatest golfers of all time.

However, we'll focus on three Californians who have the most realistic chance to win the U.S. Open.

Xander Schauffele
Although he has had a bit of an uneven performance in 2022, Schauffele is a legitimate name to watch. He missed the cut during the Masters, but dramatically improved his performance in the PGA Championship, finishing five strokes behind the winner. While that only netted him a 13th place finish, Schauffele was in the mix on Sunday, which is an encouraging bounce-back performance.

In early May, he had a round for the ages at the AT&T Byron Nelson classic. He shot a 61, which serves as a reminder of the type of high-level golf he is capable of playing.

Patrick Cantlay
Originally from Long Beach, Cantlay should also be considered as a contender for the upcoming major. Although he's appeared in fewer events than any other player currently in the top 10 rankings, he ranks very highly in one major category. Cantlay is fourth among PGA tour golfers this season in birdie average with 4.5.

Although he has not been in the hunt in the final round of a major tournament in some time, his recent consistent play suggests that he could have a say in the final standings of the U.S. Open when all is said and done.

Collin Morikawa
Perhaps the most likely California native to come away with the 2022 U.S. Open trophy is Los Angeles' Collin Morikawa. Morikawa is the highest-ranked American on the PGA tour as of this writing, and unlike some of his peers, has experience coming through when the lights have shined the brightest.

He won the PGA Championship in 2020, and The Open Championship in 2021. Morikawa also finished fifth in this year's Masters. Only in his mid 20's, Morikawa's resume in the infancy of his golf career has been remarkably impressive, and should be considered one of the favorites to win the U.S. Open.