FSU’s Brooks Koepka, back-to-back defending US Open champ, not favored to win it this weekend

Florida State’s Brooks Koepka is the No. 1 ranked golfer in the world. He’s won the last two US Open titles, as well as the last major contested, the PGA Championship, played last month in New York.

Yet Koepka is not considered the favorite to win the next US Open, which begins Thursday at Pebble Beach in California. Instead, Koepka’s close friend, Dustin Johnson, leads the list of odds. Johnson had been the world’s top-ranked player before Koepka bested him at Bethpage Black to capture the PGA.

To be fair, it’s close. Here are the players beginning the tournament with the top odds, per an online bookmaker:

• Dustin Johnson 15/2
• Brooks Koepka 8/1
• Rory McIlroy 9/1
• Tiger Woods 12/1
• Patrick Cantlay 18/1
• Jordan Spieth 20/1
• Justin Thomas 25/1
• Xander Schauffele 25/1
• Adam Scott 28/1
• Hideki Matsuyama 28/1
• Jason Day 28/1
• Jon Rahm 28/1
• Justin Rose 28/1
• Rickie Fowler 28/1

FSU’s Daniel Berger is also in the field, and getting 150/1 odds. Denmark’s Lucas Bjerregaard, who committed to Florida State but went pro instead of entering college, has 250/1 odds.

Koepka will tee-off at 4:47 pm (Eastern) on Thursday afternoon, in a group including defending Open champion Francesco Molinari and US Amateur champ Viktor Hovland.