The second round of the 2022 opening Abu Dhabi Championship takes place out in the UAE on Friday and for plenty of players it is a big day as it is the one which determines whether they get paid at the end of the week or not.
There are large riches on show in this first DP World Tour event of the season with this being a Rolex Series event so just making the cut can set a player up for the course of the year. Those who had a bad round on Thursday will need a good one on Friday to make the weekend. The players who went well in the opening round can set themselves up for a big start to the year with another here.
Round 1 Recap
It was a lower scoring opening round than many expected on Thursday and at the end of it the Scottish player Scott Jamieson holds a one shot lead on nine under from Viktor Hovland. Thomas Pieters is another shot back from a group of players on six under that includes the likes of Tyrrell Hatton, Victor Perez and Ian Poulter. Shane Lowry is another shot further back on five under. It wasn’t such a good day for the two pre-event favourites with Roy McIlroy carding a level par 72 and Collin Morikawa one shot more. Both men sit outside the cut mark and have work to do on Friday.
It will hopefully be an ok first round for us but it hasn’t finished yet so we are waiting to see if Tyrrell Hatton will get a share of a place in the first round leader market. That will recover the losses from the three ball bet as Padraig Harrington went down by a shot to Henrik Stenson and Danny Willett. Unfortunately the forecast afternoon wind which we relied on never arrived so if we can come out roughly even that wouldn’t be the worst result.
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Friday Betting
At the time of writing there is no market for the second round leader which is something of a shame because the conditions are expected to get brutal on Friday and you sense the men will be sorted from the boys over the course of the day. Those who are not familiar with the wind or comfortable in it are going to struggle and those that are could really make hay on a day where you would imagine if the forecast is correct par is going to be a good score. There are one or two high up on the leaderboard who aren’t so comfortable in the wind who could have been taken on but without a market to do it with there isn’t a huge amount we can do.
Friday 3 Balls
Once again the field will be heading out in three balls on Friday, the same three balls as they were in for the opening round on Thursday albeit the morning wave gets the afternoon shift on Friday and vice versa. That means we will have to wait until the afternoon to see the likes of Rory McIlroy embarking on his quest to make the cut but there are some decent groups across both waves of personnel. The wind is expected to be relevant all day so I quite like a bet in the marquee group in the morning.
Viktor Hovland/Collin Morikawa/Tommy Fleetwood
Match tees off at 03.30 GMT
The big three out onto the golf course of Viktor Hovland, Collin Morikawa and Tommy Fleetwood go off second from the tenth tee on Friday with the Norwegian expected to push on and take the lead on Friday while Morikawa will just be aiming to make the cut.
Fleetwood finished four shots behind Hovland on four under par on Thursday but you have to think in the forecasted conditions on Friday that he has every chance of turning the tables on the European star. Hovland has won in Mexico and the Bahamas at the back end of 2021 but it was fairly calm on both days and I’m not at all convinced he’ll be comfortable in the wind. I don’t think Morikawa will be by any stretch of the imagination either, and even if he is he was pretty ordinary on Thursday. We know Fleetwood will be fine in the wind. He can shape his shots and flight his ball accordingly and as long as his putter stays friendly I think he’s a solid bet to win this three ball.
Tips
Back T.Fleetwood to beat V.Hovland & C.Morikawa for a 3/10 stake at 3.75 with Sky Bet
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