It is ‘Moving Day’ at the USPGA Championship on Saturday and after two rounds of battling to make the weekend, the players who remain will now be looking to put themselves into position to launch a title big on Sunday.
There were some big players who missed the cut on Friday but the leaderboard is still full of top class names and there are a number of stars just off the first page as well so we are nicely set up for a big day of golf.
Round 2 Recap
There was a clear draw bias over the first two rounds and at the end of it we have Will Zalatoris with the lead on nine under par. He leads by one from the Chilean player Mito Pereira, both of whom ware in the positions they occupy for the first time in a major. Some star names are gathering in behind though. Justin Thomas is the closest to them on six under with Bubba Watson on five under First round leader Rory McIlroy is alongside Abraham Ancer and Davis Riley on four under with Matthew Fitzpatrick and Stewart Cink on three under. A large group on two under include a trio of our pre-tournament picks Cameron Smith, Tyrrell Hatton and Cameron Young.
It was an up and down day for us betting wise on Friday. The first of our two three ball bets won in dramatic fashion when Lucas Herbert came from four shots back to pip Chad Ramey on the final hole but once again Cameron Smith holed absolutely nothing and despite flushing it from tee to green the fact nothing dropped for him meant that he was no match for Zalatoris, who himself continued to defy the statistics with his putting.
Saturday Betting
The third round of the competition brings with it a third round leader market but like on Friday it isn’t one I’m massively keen to get involved in. One of the reasons I say that is because there was a lot of rain forecast over Friday night and the dynamic of the course could change a little. I’m also not sure whether the inexperienced leading pair will go backwards. Even if they do you wouldn’t be able to pick who would take advantage with any certainly, although I guess you would start with Justin Thomas, especially as he is one of the few players high up on the leaderboard who was out in the worst of the conditions on Friday. There are just too many class acts involved to bet with any comfort so I’ll leave it alone.
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Saturday 2 Balls
The remaining players in the tournament will go out in two balls on Saturday with the final pairing off for the third round being Will Zalatoris and Mito Pereira. They set off at 19.50 BST with the penultimate pair of Justin Thomas and Bubba Watson moving onto the first tee at 19.40 BST. There is coverage throughout the day on TV and some really good groups which will get some attention. Tiger Woods goes off at 14.58 BST alongside Shaun Norris while Jon Rahm tees off alongside Kramer Hickok at 16.10 BST. There is one bet I like the look of and that comes in one of the later pairings onto the course.
Stewart Cink vs Chris Kirk
Match tees off at 19.10 BST
Two Americans go out in the fifth to last pairing onto the golf course when the former Open champion Stewart Cink goes out alongside a Chris Kirk, who in terms of results in majors has to be considered a bit of an underachiever.
It is Cink I like here. He has all the experienced needed in the majors and I think at this stage of his career he’ll be relishing the occasion. He was in the top 15 at The Masters last year so he can still handle major championship tests and I think the softening of the course is only likely to benefit him here. Kirk hasn’t got a great record in majors and this week he is losing strokes off the tee to the field and not gaining many more on approach and as he isn’t the longest in the field conditions might have gone against him. Cink has shown that he can still get it out there and he has gained strokes throughout all the disciplines. His game looks in good order and I think he can outscore his fellow American here.
Tips
Back S.Cink to beat C.Kirk for a 3/10 stake at 2.20 with BetVictor
Back him here:
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