The Nedbank Golf Challenge reaches the halfway stage on Friday and at the end of the second round we will get a clearer picture of who is going to challenge for the penultimate event of the season and another Rolex Series tournament.
Thursday Recap
Going into the second round it is the Austrian star Bernd Wiesberger who holds a one shot lead. This is already becoming a big week for him. With the riches on offer here he could take a huge step to getting on the Ryder Cup team next year if he can hold onto his position on the leaderboard.
He is at five under and there is a group of players on four under who include local hero Branden Grace as well as Victor Dubuisson, Scott Jamieson and Julian Suri. Defending champion Alex Noren is a shot further back on three under alongside Charl Schwartzel and Hideto Tanihara. A big group on two under includes our pre-tournament pick Fabrizio Zanotti.
It was a good day in the three balls for us on Thursday as both Alexander Bjork and Mike Lorenzo-Vera came through at big prices to set us up nicely for the remainder of the week.
Friday Betting
At the time of writing this preview there is no market for an end of round leader for this second round which probably isn’t a bad thing as the leaderboard is still quite bunched and anything can happen around this golf course. I’ve got a couple of players under par in the outright market anyway so there is no need for any more long-term bets just yet.
Friday 3 balls
As ever with these Rolex Series events all the groups out onto the golf course have been priced up so we have plenty to go at over the course of the morning. The last group out consists of Wiesberger, Dubuisson and Jamieson and they go off at 9.01 GMT. The third last group out onto the course sees Alex Noren alongside Charl Schwartzel and Hideto Tanihara and that forms the basis of one of my two bets.
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Alex Noren/Charl Schwartzel/Hideto Tanihara
Match tees off at 08.39 GMT
The defending champion Alex Noren is alongside Charl Schwartzel and Hideto Tanihara on three under par heading into the second round and I will be interested to see how this group plays out over the 18 holes.
Schwartzel had a stone cold putter on Thursday, the club which cost him an annoying shot on the final hole. Nobody hit more greens in the right number than he did but few putted as badly as he did. That concerns me about him I must admit. Noren was very respectable in the first round but his tee to green stats weren’t as strong as they have been in the past so I wonder if being the defending champion is taking a little out of him.
Tanihara was very solid in the opening round. He wasn’t the longest off the tee but he never is but only 14 bettered him off the tee and only two had his number in hitting greens. We know the Japanese star is a good putter so if he has another big day off the tee he is great value to take care of his better known playing partners.
Branden Grace/Julian Suri/Graeme Storm
Match tees off at 08.50 GMT
Three men who will begin the second round right in contention go out in the penultimate group of the day when Branden Grace heads out alongside Julian Suri and Graeme Storm. Suri and Grace tee off four under par with Storm a shot further back.
That is borne out in the stats too. Storm was ok from tee to green without being fantastic whereas his playing partners were very solid. Grace barely missed a green in regulation was only Lee Westwood hit more fairways than Suri. Suri wasn’t quite dialled in with his iron shots but if he can tighten them up in this second round I think he is good value for this group.
Grace was going nowhere in the first round until a three hole burst which saw him pick up four shots but runs like that don’t happen too often. If he doesn’t have one here then I think Suri could have his number at a tidy price.
Tips
Back H.Tanihara to beat A.Noren & C.Schwartzel for a 3/10 stake at 4.20 with William Hill
Back him here:
DEAD HEAT – Back J.Suri to beat B.Grace & G.Storm for a 3/10 stake at 3.00 with Bet365
Back him here:
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