The first round of the USPGA Championship has been played out on a pretty firm and fast course at the Baltrusol Golf Club in New Jersey and on Friday we will lose half of the field as the halfway cut takes place after the second round. For those currently outside the cut line it will be all about getting the right side of it and those already in good position will be looking to consolidate where they sit on the leaderboard.
First Round Recap
It was a frustrating first round for us in many ways. We were on the wrong half of the draw with our outright bets although nobody really played themselves out of the tournament and we’ve a few which should be able to get back in the mix if they can take advantage of the better conditions early on Friday.
In the match betting we landed the biggest bet on David Lingmerth. He was a couple of shots too good for Daniel Berger and even more too good for Darren Clarke but Vijay Singh had a round to forget. Steve Stricker shot under par but annoyingly his one under total was only good enough for a tie.
It was a good day for Jimmy Walker as the American sealed the overnight lead with a fluent five under par 65 to set the early pace. He’ll be out in the trickier conditions on Friday though so it remains to be seen whether he keeps his lead.
Emiliano Grillo, Martin Kaymer and Ross Fisher are all a shot back from Walker with Kaymer very much having the edge in that trio given that he played in the afternoon and should get the best conditions on Friday. Four more men are another shot back on three under and they include The Open champion Henrik Stenson. The two under group contains the likes of Jason Day, Rickie Fowler and Louis Oosthuizen so the chasing pack behind Walker is packed with quality.
Two names it isn’t packed with though are Rory McIlroy and Dustin Johnson. McIlroy couldn’t hole a thing and had to sign for a four over par round of 74 and needs something special to be here for the weekend while Johnson can as good as pack his bags now having shot 77. It was a round to forget for him. Jordan Spieth upstaged both with a round of 70.
Friday 3 balls
I’ll have another go on two of the three I took on Thursday and I will also add one more to the mix as well in what looks to be a nice betting day on Friday. I’m not going too mad because there is expected to be rain around so that could play havoc with things but I’m confident with these three.
Steve Stricker might only have tied with Rich Beem on Thursday but there is no way I’m going to believe that Beem can shoot that sort of number here again. I definitely think Stricker can though so I’m going to take him again in this group. David Toms is the other member in the group but he found the going a little too tough on Thursday and I don’t see what will change here. Assuming Beem fades as logic suggests he surely will then Stricker can make up for the small loss we picked up on him on Thursday.
David Lingmerth was always in control of his group on Thursday despite barely finding a fairway off the tee. Daniel Berger missed a few chances on the greens and generally gave a rusty performance while Clarke is just out of his depth in these events at the minute as I predicted he would be. This is a match between Lingmerth and Berger and with Lingmerth winning by three on Thursday and Berger having not played back to back competitive rounds for a while I’ll stay with the Swede.
The other group I like is the Billy Horschel, Brandon Stone and James Morrison grouping. I had my eye on this group for a bet on Thursday but left it in case Morrison offered up something but even though he shot two over par on Thursday, Horschel was still six and seven shots better than his playing partners.
Brandon Stone at nine over is playing for respectability and Morrison, one shot better off, isn’t playing for much more. Horschel still has plenty to play for though and I expect him to see off his partners for a second day in a row here.
Tips
WON – Back S.Stricker to beat D.Toms & R.Beem for a 4/10 stake at 1.80 with Betfair
Back him here:
WON – Back B.Horschel to beat J.Morrison & B.Stone for a 4/10 stake at 1.83 with Skybet
Back him here:
Back D.Lingmerth to beat D.Berger & D.Clarke for a 4/10 stake at 2.10 with William Hill
Back him here:
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