The second round of the USPGA Championship takes place at Southern Hills Country Club in Oklahoma on Friday and for many it is a big day of golf as the second major of the year heads to the halfway mark.
Those who made a positive start to the tournament on Thursday will be looking to back that up on Friday, while the players who weren’t as fortunate on Thursday will need a good day in order to be around for the weekend.
Round 1 Recap
On a day where the scoring was lower than it was expected to be, Rory McIlroy holds the lead on five under par ahead of a pair of Americans in Will Zalatoris and Tom Hoge who are four under. There is another trio of players on three under in Matt Kuchar, Abraham Ancer and Justin Thomas while two of our pre-tournament picks, Cameron Smith and Kevin Na, are in a large group on two under. It was a poor day for a number of big names on Thursday with Jon Rahm, Collin Morikawa, Scottie Scheffler, Tiger Woods, Jordan Spieth and Dustin Johnson all over par and with work to do on Friday to make the cut.
It was an up and down day for us on the betting front with Ryan Fox missing out on a place in the first round leader mark by one shot despite occupying the two under needed for a number of holes on the front nine. No damage was done though as we secured profit when Hoge eased to a win in his three ball beating Beau Hossler and Si Woo Kim by three and five shots respectively, meaning we opened the week up positively.
Friday Betting
As ever in a major tournament we have an end of round leader market to go at but I’m a little uneasy about getting involved in it because of the weather forecast. That forecast is for it to be incredibly windy in the early stages on Friday which in theory would make it difficult for those out in it but I’m wary of the fact that these greens have such large slopes that play might have to be halted should the winds get that bad. The last thing I want is to side with someone in the later wave only to find out that the morning players haven’t had the bad wind and someone like a Justin Thomas is more of a challenger than he would be otherwise. I’ve got a couple of players high up on the board so that will do me for now.
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Friday 3 Balls
The players go out in the same groups they went out in for the opening round on Friday, except they change times so the morning players on Thursday get the later tee times on Friday and vice versa. The players out in the morning on Friday look to have drawn a very bad draw which isn’t good for the marquee group of Scottie Scheffler, Jon Rahm and Collin Morikawa who go out at 14.11 BST with all needing good rounds to make the cut. It might be a better proposition for the group which contains the leader Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth and Tiger Woods though. They are off the first tee at 19.36 BST when the winds are expected to have calmed somewhat. I like two bets on Friday but from other groups.
Chad Ramey/Austin Hurt/Lucas Herbert
Match tees off at 14.50 BST
The first of the two bets I like on Friday comes in the group which features two winners on the PGA Tour this season in Chad Ramey and Lucas Herbert. They are alongside one of the club professionals Austin Hurt, whose surname might be apt after he could only card a 78 on Thursday.
The Corales Puntacana Championship winner Ramey was only a shot better than the PGA professional and it is perfectly fair to say that even at this stage neither of them are going to be here for the weekend. While the record of Ramey, winning in Dominica Republic and finishing T5 in Puerto Rico, suggests he’ll handle the wind, if he is shooting 77 on a relatively calm day on Thursday he could post anything on Friday. Lucas Herbert won this group by nine and 10 shots on Thursday and he is perfectly comfortable enough in the wind to tame this potential beast on Friday. Herbert won in Bermuda so this test won’t faze him and the 5/6 on him to win this three ball looks an obvious bet.
Viktor Hovland/Will Zalatoris/Cameron Smith
Match tees off at 19.25 BST
Three class acts head out in the middle of the later wave of players when Viktor Hovland and Will Zalatoris go out alongside the winner of The Players Championship and the calendar opener Tournament of Champions in Cameron Smith.
Smith is one of my pre-tournament picks and I’m perfectly happy with where he is sat at -2 heading into Friday, even though he didn’t really play anything like we know that he can. He actually lost ground to the field around and on the greens which is unheard of. I expect a big improvement from the Australian here. Smith’s 68 was two shy of Zalatoris on Thursday but I fancy he’ll turn the tables here. I say that because Zalatoris gained three shots on the field with the putter which is very much against his usual trend and I would be surprised if he maintains that for as good as he is. Hovland shot a creditable level par on Thursday but his short game worries the life out of me. I think Smith is a big price to take this three ball down with his chipping and putting surely likely to improve.
Tips
Back L.Herbert to beat C.Ramey & A.Hurt for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with Betfair
Back C.Smith to beat V.Hovland & W.Zalatoris for a 3/10 stake at 2.63 with BetVictor
Back him here:
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