In 1895, Englishman Horace Rawlins topped a 10-man field at Rhode Island's Newport Country Club, winning $150 in prize money. Thus, the U.S. Open began.

In 2017, more than 150 players will battle it out for the chance to leave with a whopping $2,160,000 at Wisconsin's Erin Hills golf course.

That inaugural U.S. Open consisted of three Englishmen, six Scotsmen and one amateur Canadian. It was hardly a surprise, then, when a European came out on top of the leaderboard. However, with one European in the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) top five, you would be excused for doubting a repeat in this year's tournament. Nevertheless, a European winner may be far more likely than you would expect at Erin Hills. Here's why.

Swedes Henrik Stenson and Alex Noren will be relishing what we anticipate will be testing weather conditions- something we are all too familiar with on this side of the pond. World No. 1 Dustin Johnson grew up in South Carolina, so will be used to low winds and sunshine. Stenson and Noren will be licking their lips at the prospect of scattered thunderstorms and strong winds as they take their Callaway drivers to the first tee box on Thursday.

Another European prospect is Sergio Garcia. The Spaniard has every chance of completing back-to-back major victories following his Masters success. Garcia will undoubtedly take advantage of the wide fairways at Erin Hills with his famously consistent driving using the TaylorMade M2 driver. Many have also cited the Augusta-esque greens (which handed him his first major back in April), and the fact that he plays with the same putter- TaylorMade Spider Tour Red- that Jason Day turned so many heads with at the AT&T Byron Nelson, as reasons to put your money on Sergio Garcia.

Of course, World No. 1 Dustin Johnson is the deserved favourite heading into the 117th U.S. Open. Spaniard Jon Rahm is also a strong contender, whilst Jason Day is looking more like returning to the winners' circle with every tournament. It may also be worth keeping an eye out for the World No. 174 Stephan Jaeger, who we are expecting to surprise a few people by getting in the mix for the top 20.

Will golf's greatest player win on home soil? Will Sweden or Spain have stateside success? Or could we see another British champion? Only time will tell.