The second round of the British Masters will take place on Friday with the winds expected to be up which should make conditions very tough for the day where the field gets whittled down to 65 and ties.
This is already shaping up to be another wonderful renewal of this tournament with some big names making their way to the top of the leaderboard. Those players who started well will look to consolidate their positions while those who struggled on Thursday will be itching to get back in with a big round on Friday.
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Round 1 Recap
The first round was not as low scoring as I expected it to be and although the last few groups need to come back on Friday morning to finish off it looks like we will have a trio leading the way after 18 holes with Matt Wallace, Tommy Fleetwood and Eddie Pepperell all on five under. European Open winner Richard McEvoy and Alex Levy head a group on four under par while a large set of players are on three under. They include our pre-tournament pick Matthew Fitzpatrick, Ross Fisher and Matthew Southgate. It was not such a good day for the tournament host Justin Rose who could only card +2.
Hopefully it will be a good day for our three ball bets with Matt Wallace having already won this and Richie Ramsay two up with two to play in another one. Hideto Tanihara lost his at the beginning of the day but if Ramsay can come up trumps then two winners will deliver a decent profit at the prices.
Friday Betting
With the first round having not been completed there is nothing to go at in terms of a big market on Friday. I don’t necessarily mind that as the leaderboard is far too congested with star names and the conditions are likely to play a really significant part from Friday so I probably wouldn’t have touched such a market anyway in truth. I’m happy to go back to the three balls for my betting interest during the second round.
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Friday 3 Balls
The field is out in the same groups that they took to the course in on Thursday so we’ve a little bit of form to go with. The morning coverage will centre around the Ryder Cup trio of Tommy Fleetwood, Francesco Molinari and Thorbjorn Olesen while Eddie Pepperell should share some of it. In the afternoon it is all about the tournament host Justin Rose and previous champions Matthew Fitzpatrick and Paul Dunne. Matt Wallace should see some action in front of the cameras too. I’m taking a couple of bets over the course of the day.
Luke Donald/Sam Horsfield/Eddie Pepperell
Match tees off at 08.10 BST
Three Englishmen go out ten minutes after the marquee group in the morning and they include the overnight co-leader Eddie Pepperell. He is out alongside the former world number one Luke Donald and the talented up and coming star Sam Horsfield.
Pepperell knocked it around in 67 blows on Thursday which was four better than Horsfield and a whole bunch better than Luke Donald who looks like his injuries have taken a real toll on him. I would be amazed if he is a factor in the forecasted winds and I’m not convinced Horsfield will like them much better. We’ve seen time and again that Pepperell is comfortable when the wind blows. He isn’t someone who pushes things which is the right approach when it is gusty and given his position in the tournament pars will be fine. The other two need to push it and they could well come a cropper. I’ll go with Pepperell here.
Nicolas Colsaerts/Aaron Rai/Matthew Southgate
Match tees off at 13.15 BST
Matthew Southgate positioned himself nicely on Thursday with a three under par round which saw him look untroubled and I think he’s a corking bet against Aaron Rai and Nicolas Colsaerts over the course of Friday.
Colsaerts is going to need something of a miracle to be here for the weekend but pushing it in the heaviest of the winds is a risky strategy. I’m not convinced that Rai is going to fare too much better in these conditions. Southgate is a lover of links golf so the tougher it is in the wind the better I expect him to be suited. He won this group by four and seven shots on Thursday and in the windier conditions that gap should be extended.
Tips
WON – Back E.Pepperell to beat L.Donald & S.Horsfield for a 3/10 stake at 2.05 with Unibet
Back him here:
Back M.Southgate to beat A.Rai & N.Colsaerts for a 3/10 stake at 2.75 with Coral
Back him here:
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