The first half of the US Open is in the books and heading into the second half of what is the second major of the year we have a wonderful leaderboard on a golf course which is set to bite once again having given the field a chance on Friday.
Saturday is known as ‘moving day’ in the competition and those who can make a move will set themselves up nicely for Sunday. Only eight shots cover second to last so everyone is still in with a chance this weekend.
Round 2 Recap
There were four players under par after the first round of the tournament and now there is just one and that is the 2016 winner Dustin Johnson who leads by four shots on four under par. Charley Hoffman and Scott Piercy sit on even par after two rounds and then comes a large group on one over which includes our tournament pick Henrik Stenson. European number one Tommy Fleetwood and Olympic champion Justin Rose are on that total too as is the defending champion Brooks Koepka.
There were some big name casualties to the cut on Friday with Tiger Woods, Jordan Spieth, Rory McIlroy, Jason Day, Adam Scott and Bubba Watson among a deep list of players who won’t be coming back to Shinnecock Hills over the weekend.
It was an up and down betting day for us on Friday with Henrik Stenson comfortably winning his three ball in the morning. It looked as though it was going to be a double for us on the day as Ian Poulter was cruising but then he came unstuck in good style. We do have all six outright bets through to the weekend so hopefully one of those can deliver something big.
Saturday Betting
There is a market for the leader at the end of the third round and while Dustin Johnson is all the rage I think there is a bit of value in having a go just in case something happens to the leader and he comes back to the field. We saw late on Friday with Ian Poulter just how quickly shots can be frittered away so Johnson could come back to the rest.
I think there is a perfect pairing to take him on with on Saturday. Henrik Stenson and Justin Rose play together and we all know they are very good friends. They are usually Ryder Cup partners and get on very well so I wouldn’t be at all surprised if they gel nicely and both go low on Saturday. Rose is 12/1 to lead on Saturday evening while Stenson is 18/1. There isn’t much between them but Stenson has fought back from poor starts on both days. If he can get going on a normal footing he could be the one to go off on the hunt for DJ.
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Saturday 2 Balls
Although a large number of players made the cut the field go out in two balls on Saturday with the leading pair of Dustin Johnson and Scott Piercy out at 20.10 BST. There are some great groups out over the course of the day with the New York crowds undoubtedly likely to be drawn to the 16.30 pairing of Andrew Johnston and Phil Mickelson. Zach Johnson and Paul Casey go out after them and they should be popular too while later in the day that Stenson and Rose pairing looks full of quality. I’ll take bets in two others.
Patrick Rodgers vs Brian Harman
Match tees off at 18.20 BST
Two Americans heading off on four over par on Saturday are Patrick Rodgers and Brian Harman and they are included in an interesting market with Harman the marginal favourite to get the job done and I have to say I agree with that.
Harman went strongly in this tournament at Erin Hills last year and we’ve seen on a few occasions how comfortable he is both on tough courses and in windy conditions and his level par 70 on Friday was further evidence of that. To be fair to Rodgers he hasn’t done a lot wrong this week and when you can drive it as well as he can you should never be far away but Harman can move his ball both ways which will be big in the wind and at just under evens I like him for that reason.
Tommy Fleetwood vs Charley Hoffman
Match tees off at 19.59 BST
The penultimate pair out onto the golf course are Tommy Fleetwood and Charley Hoffman with both men very much in the mix in this tournament heading into the second half of it and it will be interesting to see who enhances their position.
While these two are relatively even in the tournament, Hoffman is on level par and Fleetwood is one over, there is no doubt the Englishman had the tougher of the conditions over the first 36 holes and his score is probably a good deal better than Hoffman’s as a result. Fleetwood showed he can hang tough and then take advantage of his opportunities while you always feel when the going gets really tough Hoffman wilts. With that in mind I like Fleetwood here.
Tips
Back H.Stenson 54 hole leader (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 19.00 with Skybet (1/3 1-2)
Back him here:
WON – Back B.Harman to beat P.Rodgers for a 4/10 stake at 1.95 with Bet365
Back T.Fleetwood to beat C.Hoffman for a 4/10 stake at 1.73 with William Hill
Back him here:
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