It was a low scoring opening day of the Irish Open at Portstewart on Thursday with no fewer than 105 of the 156 man field shooting under par for the first round. In brilliant scoring conditions the majority of the players on show filled their boots to set up a wonderful second round.
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Round 1 Recap
Some big stars scored well on the opening day but three fancied runners who struggled were Rory McIlroy, Lee Westwood and Tyrrell Hatton. McIlroy shot level par while Hatton and Westwood were three over and four over respectively.
Daniel Im and Benjamin Hebert lead heading into the second round. They carded wonderful eight under par rounds with three men a shot back including the new star of golf Jon Rahm. There is a small sized group on six under which includes Jamie Donaldson and Matthew Fitzpatrick while a larger group on five under includes Paul Dunne, Graeme McDowell, Justin Rose and Hideki Matsuyama among others.
It wasn’t a good start to the week betting wise with Ian Poulter unable to win his three ball despite shooting four under par. Matthew Fitzpatrick beat him by two so we have work to do on the match betting front but we do have a couple of outrights on four under which is promising.
Friday 3 balls
Once again the majority of the groups out on the links on Friday have been priced up and it would be rude of us if we didn’t indulge in the markets that have been provided to us. Although the main groups are out in the morning it is two groups in the afternoon that catch my eye.
Anthony Wall/Pablo Larrazabal/Sam Brazel
Match tees off at 12.40 BST
One of the earlier groups in the afternoon is the one between links specialist Anthony Wall, Pablo Larrazabal and Sam Brazel of Australia who you would think would be comfortable should the wind blow.
Larrazabal scored well on the opening day with a four under round while Brazel shot two under but Anthony Wall beat them both with his five under and I fancy the big Englishman could go in again in this group. Wall led the field in fairways hit and was seventh in greens hit and with his links prowess those statistics are likely to see him score very well again if he can repeat them.
Trevor Immelman/Richie Ramsay/Haydn Porteous
Match tees off at 13.10 BST
This group sees two South Africans go out with a man who is very comfortable on the links in the form of Richie Ramsay. Trevor Immelman is a fading force at this level so we can easily get rid of him from the equation and while Haydn Porteous is more comfortable in this company he could only manage one under on the first round and was way down the field in greens hit.
Richie Ramsay shot four under on Thursday and had three and five shots in hand of his playing partners and his tee to green statistics were very high. In these conditions Ramsay is likely to remain more comfortable and he looks a good thing in this group.
Tips
WON – Back A.Wall to beat P.Larrazabal & S.Brazel for a 3/10 stake at 2.80 with Paddy Power
Back R.Ramsay to beat T.Immelman & H.Porteous for a 3/10 stake at 2.40 with Paddy Power
Back them here:
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