There is just one round to go in the final major of the year and it promises to be a fantastic finale as a leaderboard stacked with quality play out the final 18 holes with each man looking to get their hands on the Wanamaker Trophy.
A near flawless round of golf from Jason Day has given the perennial major bridesmaid a two shot lead going into the last episode of the tournament but the likes of Jordan Spieth, Justin Rose and Martin Kaymer are in hot pursuit of the Australian.
Spieth is looking to sew up a third major success on US soil in 2015 and he carded a wonderful 65 on Saturday to sit two behind Day on 13 under. Justin Rose and US Open nearly man Branden Grace are a further shot back on 12 under par with Kaymer another shot away on 11 under. Should anything happen to the main leaders the likes of Dustin Johnson and Matt Kuchar sit in the top 10 ready to pounce with a good last round.
Day is now a 6/4 favourite to convert his two shot lead but having narrowly missed out on a number of majors in the past even the strongest man mentally would have some doubts. With the quality of challengers that 6/4 looks a little skinny. Jordan Spieth is the man most likely to usurp him. He is now 15/8 to land a third major of the year.
Justin Rose suffered in the final round of the Bridgestone last week which might be why he is as big as 13/2 to land a second major. His putting can suffer which could be an issue in a final round renowned for being a shootout.
Branden Grace rarely falters in contention and he could offer better value at 11/1 while our pre-tournament pick of Martin Kaymer is still attractively priced at 18/1 to deliver the goods from the exact position he was in when he won five years ago. It is 80/1 bar those five men.
I’m happy with the position Kaymer is in with another one of our pre-tournament picks Matt Kuchar just in behind so I’m not going to play the outright market again on Sunday despite the value I see in Grace but there are a couple of two balls I like.
David Lingmerth had a round to forget on Saturday but he had played great golf in the first two rounds and I think he can bounce back on Sunday. He takes on the enigmatic Frenchman Victor Dubuisson who took advantage of being out early on Saturday to post what looked like a decent number but in the end turned out to be just par.
We’ve seen a few times this season that Dubuisson can lose interest when he isn’t in contention on Sunday, especially if things start going badly and with the wind expected to be up he might not get off to the start he would like. Lingmerth shot one of the rounds of the week when the wind was blowing on Thursday and he’ll be after as big a finish as he can get with the FedEx Playoffs beginning soon so I think he has the motivation and the game to see off the mercurial but often moody Frenchman.
The final group sees Day and Jordan Spieth going head to head and I can’t have anything but a Spieth win in that match. Whether he wins by enough to win the tournament remains to be seen but he is comfortably the better player under pressure and the 10/11 looks a good thing to me.
I’m not sure Day can play a better round of golf than he played on Saturday where for nine holes he was perfect but even then Spieth still beat him by one and with Day’s high ball flight the wind could come into play more for him. He is never the most reliable when in contention on Sunday in a major anyway.
Contrast that to Spieth. He only missed out on the playoff in The Open by a shot on a windy final day and coped fine in the Ryder Cup when the wind blew too. His putting gets stronger if anything when he’s in contention and I fully expect the young superstar to move forward in this final round and be too good for Day at least if not everyone else.
Back D.Lingmerth to beat V.Dubuisson for a 4/10 stake at 2.05 with BetVictor
Back J.Spieth to beat J.Day for a 4/10 stake at 1.91 with Bet365
