We have reached the halfway mark of the third major of the year, which means that it is Moving Day at the US Open at Pebble Beach on Saturday and with a star-studded leaderboard we are set up for a very good day of action.
11 shots separate first and last which isn’t a huge amount on a golf course of this kind. Those down the field will look to post a score and watch others go past them while players deep in the mix will be eager to keep themselves in position for a crack at glory on Sunday.
Round 2 Recap
After 36 holes of the tournament we have a leader by two shots in the form of Gary Woodland who sits on nine under par after a wonderful 65 on Friday. He leads by two from Justin Rose with Louis Oosthuizen another shot further back. Then we get to the congested part of the leaderboard with Rory McIlroy and Aaron Wise on five under with a huge group on four under including the defending champion Brooks Koepka, our pre-tournament outright bet Matt Wallace and Matt Kuchar among others. It was not a good Friday for Ian Poulter, Justin Thomas and Tony Finau as they will not be here for the weekend.
It was a decent day for us betting wise though as both Chez Reavie and Louis Oosthuizen brought in the three ball bets on them to take us nicely ahead for match bets for the tournament to date, something we will be hoping to build on in the second half of the event over the course of the weekend.
Saturday Betting
We do have a market for the leader after 54 holes but in truth I’m not really sure where to start with it. You would think it is unlikely given the quality of the top three for them all to fade on Saturday while Rory McIlroy lurks behind them at a short price so finding value on what are fairly cramped each way terms isn’t necessarily going to be easy.
I think rather than try and work out many unpredictable combinations I will just hope that Matt Wallace has another good day and that either Phil Mickelson or Webb Simpson can make a move on the day and set me up nicely for Sunday and head to the two balls for my betting action in this third round.
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Saturday 2 Balls
Those who have made the cut are out in two balls for the third day with the final pairing of Gary Woodland and Justin Rose teeing off at 22.45 BST some seven hours ahead of the opening man off in Justin Walters who sets out on his path at 15.36 BST. The penultimate group sees Louis Oosthuizen out with Aaron Wise at 22.34 BST while Rory McIlroy is out alongside Chez Reavie 11 minutes before that.
There are some decent other pairings taking to the course throughout the day. Tyrrell Hatton and Tommy Fleetwood are out together early on while Tiger Woods is out with Byeong-Hun An at 19.27 BST which is sure to get a lot of attention before the leaders tee off three hours later. We’ll take a couple of bets down the card.
Jason Dufner vs Haotong Li
Match tees off at 20.11 BST
One of the groups out in the middle of the pack on Saturday sees the former USPGA champion Jason Dufner out alongside one of the bright stars of Asian golf in the form of Haotong Li with both men looking to take advantage of ‘Moving Day’.
Both men sit on one under par for 36 holes but if you look statistically, at the stats that matter, it is Haotong Li who has had the better play for the first two days. He ranks significantly above Dufner in strokes gained putting and while he doesn’t have as much of an edge in the strokes gained on approach he does still lead that too. I think putting will be key on Saturday with pins potentially hidden away and the greens firming up so those who hole out from 5-10 feet the best will have good days. All the signs are that it will be the Chinese player doing that the better of these two.
Xander Schauffele vs Sergio Garcia
Match tees off at 21.17 BST
Heading towards the latter stages of the groups out on the golf course are two classy operators when Xander Schauffele and Sergio Garcia pair up alongside each other. Both men begin the third round on three under so a good round here will have them nicely placed for a charge on Sunday.
Schauffele didn’t have his best iron game with him on Friday but he still salvaged things to post 73 which wasn’t disastrous. He will have time on Saturday to iron out that error if you pardon the pun and I expect him to score well on Saturday. Garcia has gone well from tee to green statistically, but if you watch him it is clear he is not happy with his swing and as this course dries out even just slightly he could get found out especially with the pins tucked away. I fancy a good showing from Schauffele here and he’s my bet.
Tips
WON – Back H.Li to beat J.Dufner for a 4/10 stake at 2.15 with 888sport
WON – Back X.Schauffele to beat S.Garcia for a 4/10 stake at 1.95 with 888sport
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