The second round of The Open takes place across the Carnoustie links on Friday and after a thoroughly entertaining opening day things are likely to get very serious as the field jostle to make it through to the weekend of the year’s third major.
Those who didn’t start well will need to take a few risks to get back into the tournament while players who shot a low score on Thursday will be looking for another on Friday to maximise their position in the tournament.
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Round 1 Recap
After the entire field players their opening 18 holes we are left with Kevin Kisner as the sole leader of the tournament on five under par. He leads from a trio of men on four under, Erik van Rooyen, Zander Lombard and Tony Finau with last week’s winner Brandon Stone among a group of three on three under. There is a sizeable group packed with quality three shots off the lead on two under par. They include Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas, Jon Rahm and Danny Willett.
It was a pathetic day for our three ball bets on Thursday with all three losing but we made a significant profit from the first round leader bets with Tony Finau finishing second for a full place at 66/1 and Brandon Stone coming in fifth for two-thirds of a place at 125/1. That has given us something to build on for the rest of the week.
Friday Betting
There are the early signs of a second round leader market which with a bunched up field like this I wouldn’t normally get involved in but this is a major and we’ve funds to play with after nailing the first round market on Thursday so I am going to get involved. The main reason why I am is because of the weather forecast.
There is set to be rain around Carnoustie early in the morning which may well soften the course up a little bit but the longer the day goes on the stronger the wind is set to blow and if the greens have moisture from the rain then we can expect them to cut up the longer the day goes on too so a morning starter could have something of an advantage.
Ryan Moore and Brendan Steele are the only early starters on three under or better so I’m looking a little deeper in the field where the 07.52 tee time of Thorbjorn Olesen, Rory McIlroy and Marc Leishman looks perfect. McIlroy is two under and tends to thrive in soft conditions but Olesen loves soft courses as well and is much more at home on the links. McIlroy leads Olesen by one shot yet Rory is 16/1 and Olesen is 66/1 to lead after the second round. The Dane looks overpriced to me and while this has the potential to go spectacularly wrong I’ll take him to lead at halfway.
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Friday 3 Balls
The field are out in the same groups that they set off in on Thursday although those who were out in the morning will be out later in the day and the later starters for the opening round will get a morning spot on Friday. That means that in the morning as well as the McIlroy, Olesen, Leishman group I mentioned above, we will see Dustin Johnson, Alex Noren and Charley Hoffman as well as Tiger Woods, Russell Knox and Hideki Matsuyama out on the course. In the afternoon the headlines will be made by the Jordan Spieth, Kiradech Aphibarnrat and Justin Rose group. My bets come from two other groups.
Nicolas Colsaerts/Jens Dantorp/Kyle Stanley
Match tees off at 09.14 BST
One of the morning groups out onto the golf course sees the former Ryder Cup star Nicolas Colsaerts back out alongside one of the success stories of last week in Jens Dantorp and the American player Kyle Stanley.
Stanley barely hit a fairway on Thursday yet still had four shots in hand of Dantorp and seven over Colsaerts. I don’t expect a quality ball striker like Stanley to miss as many fairways again so I’m expecting him to have a much better round on Friday. What will come from his playing partners is less certain. Dantorp made an eagle on Thursday and still posted +5 while Colsaerts will be reeling from the fact he dumped five shots in the final two holes. It is Stanley once again for me here.
Xander Schauffele/Jhonattan Vegas/Tony Finau
Match tees off at 15.32 BST
One of the later groups out on the second day is the PGA Tour trio of Xander Schauffele, Jhonattan Vegas and Tony Finau in what is a group of big hitters. It also yields potentially the best bet of the entire day.
Finau is really stepping up to the mark in majors at the minute. He went well at Augusta and finished strongly at Shinnecock with that amazing third round seeing him out in the final group on the Sunday and he is four under beginning round two here. Schauffele has gone quiet at the wrong time but even if he hadn’t his lack of links experience would be a concern to me. We all heard about the trials and tribulations of Vegas just to make it to the tournament but a man playing with brand new clubs without any chance to recce the course effectively makes this a two ball in my eyes. Finau shot four under on Thursday while Schauffele was level par. I don’t see the PGA Tour Rookie of the Year closing that gap enough to win here.
Tips
Back T.Olesen Second Round Leader (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 67.00 with Betfair (1/5 1-5)
WON – Back K.Stanley to beat N.Colsaerts & J.Dantorp for a 3/10 stake at 2.40 with Betfair
Back them here:
Back T.Finau to beat X.Schauffele & J.Vegas for a 4/10 stake at 2.10 with Betfred
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