We have reached the halfway stage of The Open which means have the field have been cut and we are left with the players who will battle it out for the third major of the year and the prestigious Claret Jug over the weekend.
After 36 holes of play there is a wonderful leaderboard on show and with the sun set to return to the Carnoustie links we are set up for a thrilling conclusion to what is shaping up to be an excellent tournament.
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Round 2 Recap
After the rain softened the course up on Friday we are left with a pair of leaders in the form of American duo Zach Johnson and Kevin Kisner. They sit on six under par with Tommy Fleetwood, Pat Perez and Zander Schauffele on five under. Rory McIlroy and Matt Kuchar lead a group two off the lead on four under with the defending champion Jordan Spieth another shot further back on three under. He is alongside Rickie Fowler.
It was an up and down day for us betting wise with Thorbjorn Olesen threatening to go and lead when he got to four under with four to play but he finished poorly to deny is anything from that bet. Kyle Stanley delivered us a tiny profit on the three balls while Alex Noren sits five back and ready to launch one of his famous weekend charges.
Saturday Betting
There is a third round leader market being formed but this time I’m not going to indulge myself in it. This leaderboard is far too bunched for pick a standout player to lead and with the golf course changing characteristic again on Saturday picking who will go the best is not going to be easy. When you think only nine shots separate the entire field literally anyone could lead this thing at the end of Saturday if the wind blows, as we saw at Shinnecock Hills last month. Given that I’m giving that market a miss I’ll head to the two balls for a bet on Saturday.
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Saturday 2 Balls
With 79 players making the cut we have 39 pairings out onto the golf course on Saturday with the final pair of Zach Johnson and Kevin Kisner teeing off at 16.00 BST. Tommy Fleetwood will partner Pat Perez in the penultimate group of the day ten minutes before that with Xander Schauffele alongside Rory McIlroy at 15.40.
Earlier in the day there are some pairs that catch the eye. Justin Rose and Kiradech Aphibarnrat are out as early as 9.35 while the 11.30 pair of Lee Westwood and Marc Leishman catch the eye too. I’m taking two bets from the two balls.
Haotong Li vs Beau Hossler
Match tees off at 12.30 BST
One of the middle matches out onto the golf course on Saturday sees the Chinese star Haotong Li out alongside a man who has made a decent impression on the PGA Tour this season in Beau Hossler.
I like Li for this match. I’m expecting the course to fire up again on Saturday and he had Hossler covered by two shots on Thursday when the course was firm. He also has much more experience in the links events and in major tournaments and after his run last year he is comfortable in majors. Hossler is still to get to that stage in his career so I think Li has the American covered in quality of game and experience which makes him the bet in this one.
Kevin Kisner vs Zach Johnson
Match tees off at 15.00 BST
The final group on the golf course will certainly be no strangers to each other because Kevin Kisner and Zach Johnson are sharing a house together this week. That means the final group will be friendly but competitive.
When you weigh up the game of these two together they are remarkably similar. Both hit a lot of fairways without being overly long and both are very good putters. The one difference is that Johnson has plenty of positive experience on links courses and at this stage of this tournament whereas this sort of links success is new to Kisner. The other issue Kisner will have is getting over double bogeying the last on Friday when it was playing pretty simple. Johnson shot a wonderful round on Friday and if he hadn’t fallen asleep around the turn on Thursday he would be leading this event handsomely. I expect him to win the final pairing on Saturday.
Tips
WON – Back H.Li to beat B.Hossler for a 4/10 stake at 2.00 with BetVictor
Back him here:
Back Z.Johnson to beat K.Kisner for a 4/10 stake at 1.73 with Betfair
Back him here:
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