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The 36-hole tournament record was taken down by Seamus Power on Friday as the Irishman backed up his round of 8-under 64 on Spyglass Hill with yet another on Pebble Beach Golf Links. Catching fire around the turn, Power birdied nine of his final 13 holes in the second-round and has placed one hand on the trophy heading into the weekend.
Set to take on the Shore Course at Monterey Peninsula tomorrow, the 34-year-old credits his consistent play since May to a few slight improvements. Collecting 12 top-20 finishes over the last nine months, Power’s name has shown up on the first or second page of the leaderboard more times than not.
When asked about this, Power said, “There are a few things. Like I figured out my putting early last year and I had always been a good putter and I kind of was struggling, but I changed the grip and it’s solidified that for me.”
He went on to add, “And then found a couple things with my swing. And you kind of put all that together, did a lot of work on my wedges. And it doesn’t take much, I mean it’s only a shot here and a shot there that really separates from finishing top 20 versus 40th or 50th and I’ve been able to tidy up some of those loose ends and it’s been much better.”
Possessing a five-stroke lead over Adam Svensson (-11), Andrew Putnam (-11), and first-round leader Tom Hoge (-11), Power has become the favorite at PointsBet Sportsbook. Looking to capture not only his second victory on Tour, but his second since July, Power appears to be in cruise control along the Pacific Coast Highway.
I will be the first to say, something very odd is going on with our Round 2 wagers. Now a cool 0-for-7 in 2022, we have seen market agreement and gotten the best of the line in each instance. It is possible I need to get back in the lab as the great Mike Tomlin would say, but I am still convinced we are just taking it on the chin from a variance perspective – outside of Ryan Palmer’s round of 9-over 81, that one may have been a bad pick.
Regardless, we will keep plugging away. 4-of-5 pre-tournament outright selections either stalled or went in the wrong direction on Friday, which you simply cannot afford with Power doing what he is doing. Joel Dahmen has a faint heartbeat, but he will take to Spyglass Hill tomorrow. Chalking up this week as a loss, we will hope to improve in the matchup department.
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Updated Odds to Win (Odds Via PointsBet):
+100: Seamus Power
+360: Patrick Cantlay
+1400: Andrew Putnam
+1800: Tom Hoge
+2500: Jason Day
+2800: Adam Svensson
+3000: Matthias Schwab
+3300: Troy Merritt
+4000: Hayden Buckley, Satoshi Kodaira
+5000: Greyson Sigg
+6600: Austin Smotherman, Justin Rose
+8000: Beau Hossler, Jordan Spieth
+10000: David Lipsky, Joel Dahmen, Keith Mitchell, Kelly Kraft, Matthew Fitzpatrick, Tyler Duncan
+12500: Scott Stallings
+13000: Sean O’Hair
+15000: Denny McCarthy, Jonas Blixt, Nate Lashley, Sahith Theegala
Round 3 Plays (Odds Via PointsBet):
J.J. Spaun +140 over Kevin Kisner (1.00 unit):
I was a bit surprised to see the price of this matchup as Spaun has sneakily had a great 2021-22 season thus far. 8-for-10 making the weekend, the SDSU product collected quality results at the Bermuda Championship and the RSM Classic before the new year. Picking up where he left off, Spaun has since found the top-25 at The American Express and the top-35 last week at the Farmers Insurance Open.
By way of improving ball-striking numbers and a reliable short-game, the 31-year-old should be able to handle himself at Pebble Beach tomorrow. While the iron-play lagged a bit on Friday, Spaun did connect on 18-of-18 greens in regulation in Round 1 and if able to replicate this performance, he should take care of Kisner.
As the main concern for Kisner is his greatest strength gets neutralized. Admittingly not a fan of poa annua greens, the South Carolinian struggled in his round at Spyglass Hill on Friday signing for a 4-over 76. Never the most consistent from tee-to-green, I will happily go with the California native at plus-money in this one.
2/3-Balls YTD: -3.90 units, -22.13%
Total YTD: +47.69 units, +141.68%
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