The men were sorted out from the boys in the second round of the Nedbank Golf Challenge which has thrown a different complexion onto the tournament as it heads into the third round on Saturday.
Inclement weather and a very tough golf course combined for just a dozen under par scores on Friday to set up a very interesting weekend in the penultimate tournament of the European Tour season.
Friday Recap
Overnight leader Bernd Wiesberger was one of many who were found out on Friday and that has left Victor Dubuisson holding a two shot lead going into the final 36 holes. He has a six under par total after two rounds and leads by two from Lee Westwood and Darren Fichardt.
A quartet of players sit another shot back on three under and they include the defending champion Alex Noren along with the classy English pair of Ross Fisher and Tyrrell Hatton. Scott Jamieson is the other man on that score with Martin Kaymer and Charl Schwartzel on two under. Joost Luiten is our best placed outright pick. He’s on one under.
It was a bit of an annoying day betting wise on Friday as I ran into a three way tie with Julian Suri although as all three in that group went round in three over par I shouldn’t complain too much. Sadly Hideto Tanihara fought hard with the wind but was knocked out pretty early in the proceedings.
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Saturday Betting
Once again there is no end of round market for Saturday and with the quality that is already on the leaderboard I’m not sure there is a huge amount of value in the outright market at the minute either. I have Luiten who remains firmly in contention with a decent weekend so I’m happy to leave the long-term markets alone and head for the three balls in the aim of better luck on Saturday than I had on Friday.
Saturday 3 balls
The final group of Victor Dubuisson, Darren Fichardt and Lee Westwood step out onto the golf course at 8.51 GMT but it is the group in front of them that go out 11 minutes earlier that is likely to take the bulk of the crowds around with them as Ross Fisher, Alex Noren and Tyrrell Hatton are all top class golfers. It is a group out slightly earlier that interests me from a betting point of view.
Branden Grace/Paul Waring/Benjamin Hebert
Match tees off at 08.07 GMT
Three men who form a significant portion of the group on one under par go out alongside each other when Branden Grace tees off alongside Paul Waring and Benjamin Hebert.
Grace was one of the surprises of the second round. Usually he is watertight in the wind and actually relishes it but he could only shoot three over par and that has dented his title chances which might not have him feeling good about things.
Without meaning to be disrespectful I would imagine Waring and Hebert boarded the plane to South Africa looking to bank some nice cash rather than winning this title in this company so they might be a touch freer on Saturday.
Hebert was excellent on Friday. To shoot three under in those conditions is some round of golf and shows that his ball striking is spot on and that is a big thing around here. He doesn’t miss many fairways or greens and if his fair share of putts drop he could well see off more inconsistent partners over the third 18 holes.
Tips
Back B.Hebert to beat B.Grace & P.Waring for a 2/10 stake at 4.50 with Betfair
Back him here:
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