While the second round of the WGC Bridgestone Invitational is still in its infancy stage there is just time to pen a few brief thoughts about what we saw on Thursday, what we might see over the weekend and what we will see when the TV cameras start rolling today.
Scoring was unusually low on Thursday with recent Greenbrier Classic winner Danny Lee the only man to shoot better than four under par. He leads going into round two on five under but there is a nicely assembled order of chasers even though only just over 25% of the field managed to break par on the opening day.
The course looks about as firm as it has ever been seen and that has helped the shorter hitters without doubt. Jim Furyk and Graeme McDowell were two such men to take advantage of the longer rolls they get from the fairways to post four under and be one behind Lee. Justin Rose and Rickie Fowler sit two back but there aren’t many bombers on the leaderboard which suggests we could see a changing of the guard this weekend.
No inclement weather is expected this week. There is just a 10% chance of rain over the final two days so we can expect the course to remain firm and fast and that is likely to play into the hands of the straighter hitters. Already on day one we’ve seen this course is hard to play from the rough so maybe the longer hitters aren’t going to go as well as we would expect.
I thought it was interesting that Soren Kjeldsen in an interview last night said he was excited to see the course playing firm because it means he can play the course fairly unlike usual when it is far too long for him. The Dane is one of just 21 players under par after the opening round and yet he is 350/1 which looks a little big.
With the course playing as firm as it is he can play the longer holes like links golf and use the entries to the greens to chase balls towards the pins while with short irons in his hands he has shown for the last couple of months he knows what he’s doing. If the putter cooperates over the weekend I wouldn’t be surprised if he stays close to the lead so I’ll have a nibble on that 350/1.
Looking to Friday and all of the pairings have been priced up again. Given that I’m prepared to take him outright I’m not going to pass up the chance to take Kjeldsen at odds against to beat James Hahn. Hahn sits outside the top 120 in driving accuracy on tour this year and is only 90th in greens in regulation so while he managed to win at the Northern Trust Open you do sense that week was the anomaly rather than the norm. Kjeldsen beat him by a shot on Thursday and I fancy him to repeat the job on Friday.
Another man who beat his playing partner on Thursday was Robert Streb and I think this course sets up quite nicely for him. He likes it long and fast and arrived here in excellent form with six top 20s in his last seven events, the US Open being the only one he wasn’t in the top 20 in that time. Therefore his first round was no fluke and we can expect him to maintain his form.
Marc Warren might be feeling a bit jaded as this week goes on. He played 6 rounds of golf in four days at the Paul Lawrie Matchplay last week and then had a long flight across and this golf course is fairly long so the Scot may fade as the week progresses. I’m not sure this sort of course suits him anyway so Streb is a strong selection today.
Back S.Kjeldsen to win WGC Bridgestone Invitational (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 351.00 with Stan James (1/4 1-4)
Back S.Kjeldsen to beat J.Hahn for a 3/10 stake at 2.38 with Stan James
Back R.Streb to beat M.Warren for a 4/10 stake at 1.85 with Coral
