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We will have to wait just a bit longer to cut the field in half as Round 2 will spill into Saturday morning. Playing catch-up on Friday, those out late on Thursday and early today received the best of the conditions as there was little wind, pure greens, and still some moisture in the grounds of Memorial Park Golf Course.
Scottie Scheffler was the most notable player to answer the bell as the Texan captured the course record in his second round. To the tune of 8-under 62, Scheffler improved on his first-round effort by 10-strokes. Leading the field in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green in Round 2 and gaining nearly 3.5 strokes on the greens, the 25-year-old shot up the leaderboard and stands at 6-under for the tournament.
When asked the key to such a drastic turnaround, Scheffler said, “I started hitting some fairways. Yesterday I was playing out of the rough most of the time, so it was just nice getting the ball out there in play, give myself some opportunities. This golf course can be pretty challenging from the Bermuda rough and you’ve got to hit the ball in play. If you’re hitting it in the rough to elevated greens that you can’t hold just because you’re hitting knucklers out of the rough, so it was very important to get the ball in the fairway.”
Despite sitting four-strokes behind the current leader, Martin Trainer at 10-under, Scheffler is looking up to only one name on the odds board at PointsBet Sportsbook. That would be the name of Jason Kokrak as the 36-year-old has the opportunity to not only catch Trainer, but also Scheffler’s course record.
A winner in Texas last season at the Charles Schwab Challenge, Kokrak was 6-under for his round and 8-under for the tournament when players were pulled off the golf course. Still needing to play seven holes to finish up his second round, the long-hitting Kokrak heads into the weekend as the tournament-favorite at +450.
As for our personal business, we too will need to wait for our Round 2 wagers to finalize. Martin Laird appears well on his way to losing his three-ball while Zach Johnson provides a glimmer of hope for a profitable day.
With so many unknowns going into Saturday, we will wait until the second round is completed to add anything to our portfolio. If Kokrak is unable to push the lead out past 10-under, we may look for another outright, but if not, we will likely target someone like Max Homa in a Round 3 head-to-head matchup if it is ripe for the picking. Stay tuned as I will be sure to update the article accordingly.
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Updated Odds to Win After Completion of Round 2 (Odds Via PointsBet):
+350: Scottie Scheffler
+650: Kevin Tway
+1000: Adam Long, Matthew Wolff
+1200: Marc Leishman, Martin Trainer
+1400: Sam Burns
+1600: Adam Schenk
+2200: Keith Mitchell
+2500: Kramer Hickok, Lanto Griffin
+2800: Jhonattan Vegas
+3300: Wyndham Clark
+4000: Patrick Reed
+5000: Luke List, Matthew NeSmith, Sungjae Im
Round 3 Plays (Odds Via PointsBet):
Max Homa (+20000 to win):
He arrived in Houston via a delayed flight and was greeted with a delayed first-round. Take away Homa’s first-nine Thursday evening and he would be right in the mix with 36-holes to go. Playing it in 3-over, the Fortinet Championship winner has since played his following 27-holes in 4-under to sit in a tie for 25th heading into Round 3.
While his first-round strokes-gained figures may look poor, it was really just Thursday’s undoing. Having had a fantastic Friday, I expect Homa to continue this nice run of golf into the weekend. Eighth in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green, the 30-year-old ranks inside the top-25 in SG: Off-the-Tee and SG: Approach.
Things may look bleak as we get closer to the putting surface, but Homa found his touch around-the-green in his second round, gaining more than a stroke in said category. He will need to be better with the flat stick moving forward, but some of his best single round putting performances have occurred on Bermuda. Slight improvements with the putter were made en route to his second round of 3-under 67 and I am hopeful they snowball into a nice weekend effort.
Unfortunately due to the nature of the tournament and quick turnarounds in between rounds, there weren’t many betting markets open. Invested pre-tournament at +6600, I was hoping for a top-10 wager of some sort to serve as an insurance policy, but I don’t mind a small sprinkle on Homa if you have no exposure as the oddsmakers believe the real lead is in the hands of Scheffler at 6-under.
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