The second round of the BMW PGA Championship takes place at Wentworth on Friday when the field are back on the West Course looking to either back up a good start or make sure they can make the cut and be here for the weekend.
The leaderboard already has a strong feel to it with a number of big names having made their way towards the top of it over the opening 18 holes and that should ensure that we get another excellent day of golf on Friday.
Round 1 Recap
At the end of the opening 18 holes we have a sole leader in the form of Matthew Baldwin. He went round in 65 blows on Thursday, one better than Thomas Detry and Niklas Norgaard while a whole host of players are another shot further back. They include standout stars such as Rory McIlroy, Robert MacIntyre, Shane Lowry, Victor Perez and the former champion Billy Horschel. Another former champion Danny Willett is in a sizeable group on four under par.
It was a profitable day for us betting wise even though our first round leader bet Bernd Wiesberger never really got going. That was disappointing because conditions were nice when he went onto the golf course but we got that loss back and added some profit to it when Thriston Lawrence came out on top in his three ball against Si Woo Kim and Francesco Molinari. To be fair it was a bit tighter than I thought it might be but he got the job done.
Friday Preview
We do have an end of round leader market to look at on Friday but in truth I wouldn’t know really where to start with this one because not only is the leaderboard so bunched together after the opening 18 holes but there are so many big names towards the top of it that any one of them could make a move but someone from the three or four under mark could easily come along with a 65 and snatch the top spot. It isn’t a market where anything is really jumping out at me but Dan Bradbury is only two back and he tees off pretty early so if he can make a move the 40/1 to 50/1 quotes on him could end up big. He is my big fish in the outrights though so I don’t really need to get back involved in him.
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Friday 3 Balls
Once again the field go out in three balls in the same groups which they were sent out in on Thursday except the early starters in the opening round go out later on Friday and vice versa. That means that the marquee groups in the morning contain Matthew Fitzpatrick, Tommy Fleetwood and Byeong-Hun An going off at 08.45 BST before Aaron Rai, Nicolai Hojgaard and Billy Horschel head to the first tee 10 minutes later at 08.55 BST. The feature groups in the afternoon have Rory McIlroy, Justin Rose and Ryan Fox teeing off at 12.25 BST before Robert MacIntyre is joined on the first tee by Jesper Svensson and Shane Lowry at 12.35 BST. Having seen the opening day of the tournament there are two bets I like the look of on Friday.
Sebastian Soderberg/Luke Donald/Alex Fitzpatrick
Match tees off at 09.25 BST
The first of the groups that I like goes out in the middle of the morning when Sebastian Soderberg goes out alongside the man who could very easily be his Ryder Cup captain in 12 months in Luke Donald and Alex Fitzpatrick.
The Swede won this group by three and four shots on Thursday and I’m not surprised by that. He was my outright bet before a ball was hit and with his iron play being the best in the field over the opening 18 holes it won’t be a surprise if he comes out on top in it again. I don’t think Donald is long enough for this course anymore so his even par was a fair effort. Fitzpatrick should be more dangerous but Soderberg had a brilliant Friday last year and I see no reason why he won’t go well again here given the form he is in. He feels like a worthy favourite to me.
Harry Hall/Niklas Norgaard/Mark Hubbard
Match tees off at 12.00 BST
The other group I like on Friday tees off at high noon when the English player Harry Hall and fellow PGA Tour player Mark Hubbard go out alongside the Danish player who sits second in the field heading into the second round in Niklas Norgaard.
The reason why Norgaard is at six under and T2 going into Friday is only two players hit more greens in regulation than him in the opening round on Thursday. If you hit greens around here you will score and when you factor in that he has the length to get stuck into the par 5s as well there is no reason why he won’t score well here. Hubbard had a good round in fairness on Thursday but how sustainable that is remains to be seen. I say that because he was outside the top 100 in greens in regulation on Thursday and you can only rely on a short game around here for so long. Hall wasn’t great with the irons either so I’m not massively convinced he is going to build on his three under total. Norgaard is inside the top five on tour for strokes gained off the tee and sits 19 in greens in regulation. His long game credentials stand the entire season and I think he wins this group once again.
Tips
Back S.Soderberg to beat L.Donald & A.Fitzpatrick for a 3/10 stake at 2.38 with Sky Bet
Back N.Norgaard to beat H.Hall & M.Hubbard for a 3/10 stake at 2.70 with Unibet
