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While the stars struggled on Thursday, the floodgates opened on Friday. Nearly everyone took full advantage of the ideal conditions as the field scoring average was just about 1-under par, a stroke better than what it was in Round 1. One player who was able to make a big move up the leaderboard was the three-time Travelers champion, Bubba Watson.
Standing at +1200 overnight at PointsBet Sportsbook, Watson was the favorite heading into Round 2 despite sitting three-strokes behind the leaders. Starting on the back-nine, Watson posted a rather pedestrian front-half 1-under 34. Things heated up on the back-nine for Watson in more than one way.
After breaking his driver once making contact with the ball on the par-4 2nd, Watson converted an improbable birdie. He would then string together three birdies in a row, including one on the par-4 7th courtesy of a 50-foot putt. A bogey on Watson’s final hole left him posting his second consecutive 4-under 66 as he sits at 8-under for the tournament and down to +650 at PointsBet.
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Watson was not the only one to make a significant move as both Kevin Kisner and Justin Rose posted rounds of 7-under and are amongst the group tied for fourth. However, they would be outdone by one of the last players on the golf course Friday evening and that was Jason Day.
The Aussie has been battling a back injury for quite some time now as it forced him out of the Memorial Tournament and U.S. Open final qualifying just a few weeks ago. Throughout the day, he looked like his former, world No. 1 self, carding eight birdies against zero bogeys. Holding a one-stroke lead at 9-under, Day is in prime position to capture his first victory since the 2018 Wells Fargo Championship
He sits just below Watson on the odds board at +700, but comes with more question marks. Towards the end of his round, Day was clearly laboring. The back seemed to have stiffened up as the sun began to set and will certainly be something to keep an eye on over the next 36-holes. Tomorrow should prove to be a massive test for Day as it has been quite some time since he has found himself in the mix over the weekend.
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Updated Odds to Win (Odds Via PointsBet):
+650: Bubba Watson
+700: Jason Day
+1100: Patrick Cantlay
+1500: Bryson DeChambeau
+1600: Justin Rose
+1700: Scottie Scheffler
+2000: Russell Henley
+2800: Patrick Reed
+3300: Brooks Koepka, Kevin Kisner, Kramer Hickok
+4000: Harris English, Ian Poulter, Joaquin Niemann, K.H. Lee, Talor Gooch, Troy Merritt, Seamus Power
+5000: Cameron Smith, Charley Hoffman, Guido Migliozzi, Marc Leishman
Round 3 Plays (Odds via PointsBet):
Brooks Koepka (+3300 to win):
With so much unknown at the top of the leaderboard, it may be wise to go a bit further down to find an eventual winner. As we said, Day’s back didn’t look 100 percent Friday evening, but he’s not the only one to be concerned of. Like Day, it’s been quite some time since Watson has truly been in contention. While TPC River Highlands may as well be a second home to Watson, there are still 36-holes to play with the potential of many different scenarios playing out.
Outside of them two, the only player I am worried about is Patrick Cantlay who sits at 6-under and third on the odds board as he should. Going down the board, there are a couple players that I like a bit further back such as Harris English and Stewart Cink, but with pre-tournament wagers having been placed on both of them, we’ll go with a different, proven winner.
That’s where Koepka enters the fold as he sits just five-strokes behind Day going into the third round. Over the past month or so, Koepka has been brutal on the greens. If he had putted well at Kiawah Island, he would be your PGA champion. He struggled with the flat stick again at the Palmetto Championship and appears to be struggling this week as well.
Sitting outside the top-60 both on and around-the-greens, Koepka’s ball-striking has been able to keep him within striking distance. His approach numbers are a bit skewed due to a hole-out eagle on the 18th hole in his second round, but I’ll still jump in at a spot that is about twice his pre-tournament number.
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