We reach the halfway point of The Open on Friday when the second round of the final major of the season is played out at Hoylake on a day which will be big for many in the field for a number of different reasons.
Those who began well on Thursday will be looking to consolidate their promising early position while those who didn’t take advantage of the good scoring conditions on the opening day will need to fight hard just to be around for the weekend.
Round 1 Recap
We have a trio of joint leaders heading into the second round with Tommy Fleetwood, Emiliano Grillo and the amateur Christo Lamprecht having carded opening rounds of 65. Antoine Rozner, Adrian Otaegui and Brian Harman are next on four under while a group on three under includes the former champion Stewart Cink, Max Homa and the US Open winner Wyndham Clark. It wasn’t such a good day for the likes of Justin Thomas who had a day to forget, while Dustin Johnson, Jon Rahm, Justin Rose and Phil Mickelson all lie outside of the cut line and need something big on Friday to make the cut.
It was an up and down betting day for us on Thursday. The three first round leader bets yielded no joy although the two under served up by Matthew Jordan stood up for place money until the last few hours of the day. We were level for the three ball bets courtesy of Nick Taylor getting us out of a bit of trouble after Louis Oosthuizen had a mare and Ewen Ferguson didn’t really get going. Tommy Fleetwood has our outright portfolio in a favourable early position.
Friday Betting
There are a few markets for the second round to get stuck into whether it is the second round leader or who will shoot the lowest score from a group of players. The leaderboard is a little too bunched for me to go at the second round leader market and I am secretly hoping that Tommy Fleetwood has another good round and comes out of the park to enhance his position in the tournament. With a couple of major champions within two shots and plenty of other capable players within striking distance I don’t really want to get too involved. Those who do have more of a tendency to get involved will be pleased to know that much like Thursday the weather is expected to be consistent throughout the day.
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Friday 3 Balls
The field are back out in three balls in the second round and in the same groups which they were out in on Thursday only the tee times have been flipped so early starters on Thursday get a lie in on Friday and vice versa. The weather isn’t expected to change too much throughout the day, with the exception of a light shower early in the afternoon, so that shouldn’t really be much of an issue. It means that the morning will be dominated by the groups which sees Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm and Justin Rose out at 09.58 BST and Collin Morikawa, Max Homa and Tyrrell Hatton out at 10.09 BST. Moving into the afternoon the attention will be on the Scottie Scheffler, Tommy Fleetwood and Adam Scott group at 14.48 BST and the Cameron Smith, Xander Schauffele and Wyndham Clark group that tees off at 14.59 BST. As with Thursday the TV coverage is throughout the day and there are plenty of other groups to keep us entertained either side of the marquee groups. I have bets I like in two of those.
Gary Woodland/Adrian Otaegui/Alexander Bjork
Match tees off at 07.30 BST
One of the earlier groups out onto the golf course sees the former US Open champion Gary Woodland out alongside the DP World Tour duo of Adrian Otaegui and Alexander Bjork with all three looking good to make it through to the weekend.
The DP World Tour pair will go into round two under par whereas Woodland has to be careful in order to make the cut as he begins +2, six behind Otaegui and four behind Bjork. I actually came close to taking Otaegui in this group in the opening round but I was a little concerned that the course might be too long for him. Clearly based on his four under 67 to start that very much isn’t the case. I liked him because he is very solid from tee to green, patient and able to plot his way around the course and has won on a links track on the DP World Tour so I see no reason why he won’t kick on across Friday. Otaegui ranked ninth on strokes gained off the tee on Thursday and seventh on approach and with these greens not tough to read those are the two key statistics here. Bjork enjoyed a good opening round but actually lost strokes off the tee and if he doesn’t sort that out then he could level out a little bit. Woodland had a mare on approach and with the putter and has a lot to build on. Until the heavy rain arrives this course sets up well for Otaegui and with this group likely to be done by the time the course gets the rain I think the Spaniard is worth taking here.
David Lingmerth/Ben Griffin/ Ockie Strydom
Match tees off at 09.14 BST
The second bet that I like on Friday comes in the middle of the morning when my outright bet David Lingmerth goes back out alongside the American player Ben Griffin and the South African ace Ockie Strydom.
Lingmerth won this group by three and five shots on Thursday and I fancy he can win it again. The statistics would suggest that his win was justified as he gained strokes off the tee, into the greens and on them and he was only really level for the field around the greens. Lingmerth made three birdies in the last six holes to card one under and set himself up for a decent week. Strydom had the second best score on Thursday but his putter got him out of a lot of trouble but these greens aren’t tricky enough for that to be a regular occurrence so either his long game improves or he could struggle on Friday. Griffin didn’t enjoy his opening round at The Open as a 75 has left him needing something good on Friday just to make the cut. He gained ground on the field off the tee but the rest of his game hindered him and his only birdie on Thursday was at the fifth which was basically a glorified par four for much of the day. Griffin smashed the driver on nearly every hole on Thursday but you have to be smarter to work your way around here. All elements of the Lingmerth game look to be working and he can win this group for a second day.
Tips
Back A.Otaegui to beat G.Woodland & A.Bjork for a 3/10 stake at 3.25 with Boylesports
Back him here:
Back D.Lingmerth to beat B.Griffin & O.Strydom for a 3/10 stake at 2.50 with Betfair
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