The first round of the British Masters was a low scoring affair as the players took advantage of a soft course and benign conditions to fill their boots but they are set for a much different test in the second round of the event on Friday.
The rain is forecast throughout the morning and there is set to be plenty of wind with gusts up to 25mph right across the day so if the players had it easy on Thursday they are certainly not going to be in their comfort zone as we head towards the halfway mark!
Thursday Recap
Tyrrell Hatton and George Coetzee will begin the second round with the lead on seven under par after they both shot scintillating 63s on the opening day. Both dropped a stroke during the round too so it could have been even better for the pair of them. There is a sizable group behind them on six under which includes Alvaro Quiros and Mikko Ilonen among others.
On a low scoring day there are plenty of players on five under and four under including our pre-tournament picks Graeme Storm and Matthew Fitzpatrick. Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter, Graeme McDowell and Kiradech Aphibarnrat are all on that group with Rory McIlroy a shot further back on three under.
We had a winner and a loser in our two ball bets on Thursday with Fitzpatrick landing the win but Lorenzo-Vera ran into an excellent round from Robert Karlsson. Our first round leader bet came nowhere so we only slightly up heading into day two but with enhanced chances in the outright market.
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Friday Betting
There is not a market for the end of round leader on Friday although the way the leaderboard is bunched you would need a pin and a blindfold to pick the winner of it anyway. Any one of around 50 players could lead at the end of Friday which will make for exciting viewing but not so easy predicting.
Without that market around we are restricted to the three balls again where the majority of the groups on the course have been priced up. I like three of them from a betting point of view where I’ll move to the afternoon given we don’t know the impact the rain will have in the morning.
Friday 3 balls
Chris Paisley/Joakim Lagergren/Nacho Elvira
Match tees off at 12.10 BST
My first bet comes in one of the earlier groups out onto the golf course in the afternoon when the local player Chris Paisley takes on Joakim Lagergren and Nacho Elvira. Lagergren won this group on Thursday when he shot two under to the even par of Elvira and three over of Paisley.
There probably isn’t a way back in the tournament for Paisley now. The cut is likely to be under par and in tough conditions he would need to find a 65 or 66 just to make it. I don’t see that happening. In fact in the wind I think Lagergren will be most comfortable. He was touched off at a windy Qatar Masters earlier in the year and has back-to-back top fives in the Dunhill Links. The wind should not be an issue for him and he can win this group again off the back of that.
Kiradech Aphibarnrat/David Horsey/Sam Brazel
Match tees off at 12.30 BST
Another group out in the afternoon sees Kiradech Aphibarnrat going up against David Horsey and Sam Brazel. The Thai, who went close to taking this thing down at Woburn on its return, won this group on Thursday with a solid four under par round from Horsey who carded one under and Brazel who shot himself out of the tournament with a +3 round.
I fancy Aphibarnrat will come through again here. He is pretty comfortable in the wind and seems to enjoy playing in Britain having almost won around Woburn two years ago and having won the Paul Lawrie Matchplay and made the top five of the Dunhill Links the same year. He is a long hitter which will open this course up for him and I fully expect him to see off his playing partners here.
Paul Peterson/James Morrison/Eddie Pepperell
Match tees off at 13.20 BST
The form horse Eddie Pepperell is out in one of the final groups on the golf course when he partners James Morrison and Paul Peterson for the second successive day. Pepperell’s one under was enough to win this group on Thursday and I fancy he’ll win it more comfortably on Friday.
Pepperell loves playing in tough conditions, especially windy ones. We’ve seen that regularly throughout his career and with the wind expected to blow across this exposed track I think that will be right up his street. We’ve not really seen the best of Morrison or Peterson in those conditions so the Englishman is the one for me here.
Tips
Back J.Lagergren to beat C.Paisley & N.Elvira for a 3/10 stake at 2.75 with Bwin
Back him here:
DEAD HEAT WON – Back K.Aphibarnrat to beat D.Horsey & S.Brazel for a 3/10 stake at 2.50 with Paddy Power
Back him here:
Back E.Pepperell to beat J.Morrison & P.Peterson for a 3/10 stake at 2.05 with Unibet
Back him here:
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