The course won on the first day of the USPGA Championship with just 14 men breaking 70 around Quail Hollow and with a poor forecast for the second day of the tournament that is not expected to change on Friday.
The second round will see those off to a good start looking to consolidate it while those who started badly will be fighting just to be around for the weekend so we are set up for a fascinating day as we move towards the halfway stage.
Thursday Recap
Two men will take the lead into the second round with them. They are Thorbjorn Olesen and Kevin Kisner who share the lead on four under par. They lead by one from a decent group which includes the US Open champion and our outright pick Brooks Koepka and Gary Woodland among others.
There is a high quality group on two under, two shots off the lead. Another of our outright picks is in there in Tony Finau. He is joined by Paul Casey, Bud Cauley, Patrick Reed, Rickie Fowler and Brian Harman to name a few. Rory McIlroy will begin the round five off the lead after shooting one over while Jordan Spieth is on the same score.
It was a win a tie and a couple of losses for us on Thursday. Jamie Lovemark came through without any issues while James Hahn tied with K-T Kim but sadly JB Holmes and Alex Levy were never at the races.
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Friday Betting
This is a bunched up leaderboard so there is a chance to get involved in the second round leader betting market but with the weather up and down and difficult to predict it is hard to know which end of the draw we should focus on so with that in mind I’m just going to stick to the three balls for Friday’s betting.
Friday 3 balls
As ever all of the groups heading out onto the golf course has been priced up for Friday despite only the second half of the draw being covered on TV along with the really big group of Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm and Rickie Fowler in the afternoon. I’m leaving that group alone but there are three that I like throughout the day.
Jamie Lovemark/Luke List/Chris Moody
Match tees off at 14.25 BST
The last match out in the morning session is the one featuring Jamie Lovemark, Luke List and Chris Moody. I backed Lovemark in this heat on Thursday and he won by one from List and I am going to repeat the dose.
Lovemark double bogeyed the first so his three over score was not too bad on Thursday whereas List made seven bogeys which shows his struggles on this sort of layout. Moody is not going to be a factor in tough conditions so I’m happy to take Lovemark in the belief his score on Thursday was worse than his play.
Shane Lowry/Pablo Larrazabal/Stuart Deane
Match tees off at 17.35 BST
One of the first groups out onto the course in the afternoon is one with the European duo of Shane Lowry and Pablo Larrazabal alongside the Australian player Stuart Deane. Deane shot 13 over in the first round so it is hard to see him being competitive here so this should be between the two Europeans.
Lowry beat Larrazabal by three on Thursday and I expect him to translate that form into another win on Friday. Larrazabal’s lack of accuracy off the tee is not going to help him around this course and as good as his short game is these aren’t greens you want to be missing too often. Lowry drives the ball so well that he should open this course right up and I expect him to score the best of this trio here.
Chris Stroud/Richard Sterne/Ryan Vermeer
Match tees off at 19.30 BST
One of the last groups out onto the golf course on Friday sees the Barracuda Championship winner Chris Stroud taking on Richard Sterne and Ryan Vermeer in what should be a three ball dominated by the man who won last week.
That was certainly the case on Thursday with Stroud posting a confident bogey free 68 which was five shots better than Sterne, who may lack length to tame this beast, and 14 better than Vermeer who should not be a factor in this one. Stroud is hitting the ball really well at the minute and he looks a good thing in this group.
Tips
WON – Back J.Lovemark to beat L.List & C.Moody for a 4/10 stake at 1.83 with Unibet
Back him here:
WON – Back S.Lowry to beat P.Larrazabal & S.Deane for a 4/10 stake at 1.80 with William Hill
Back him here:
WON – Back C.Stroud to beat R.Sterne & R.Vermeer for a 4/10 stake at 1.91 with Bet365
Back him here:
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