Golf betting tips: The PLAYERS Championship round two preview and best bets

Golf betting tips: The PLAYERS round two

1pt double An and Svensson to win their three-balls at 5.18/1 (Coral, Ladbrokes)

1pt double Young and Bradley to win their three-balls at 4.63/1 (Sky Bet)

0.5pt four-fold An, Svensson, Young and Bradley at 30/1 (Coral, Ladbrokes)

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An to beat Rodgers and Schmid (1140 GMT)

Backers of BYEONG HUN AN in this group on Thursday were hard done by as his round of 69 would've been enough on most days, only for Matti Schmid to putt the lights out, including a long eagle putt on their final hole.

An hit the ball in his customarily strong way and with Schmid struggling to put rounds together, and almost certain to suffer a dip in his putting stats, redemption should be on the cards. The Korean is no less likely to win this group but we get a slightly bigger price this time.

Patrick Rodgers is the bigger danger but this isn't a great course for him and in eight visits so far, he's missed seven cuts. He'll begin round two knowing another missed cut beckons if he can't shoot one of his better Sawgrass scores.

If An can shoot 69 again, he'll almost certainly win this group.

Svensson to beat Hardy and Wallace (1224 GMT)

ADAM SVENSSON steadied the ship after a disastrous start to his PLAYERS bid, and having been eased to 7/4 in places he looks value to make amends and win this three-ball on day two.

Svensson's 74 saw him beaten by one shot, Matt Wallace's superior putting ultimately winning the day, but the Canadian might just have got things back on track after a disappointing fortnight. Certainly, he can take heart from the way he played the final 13 holes and had the putter behaved, he might've clawed his way back to level.

Hardy went the other way and that's now three over-par rounds from three at the Stadium Course, so in what's probably a match, take Svensson's superior course form and back him to beat Wallace at a generous revised price.

Young to beat Wu and Taylor (1656 GMT)

At his own level, which isn't world-class, CARSON YOUNG is one of the more solid players on the PGA Tour and I see no reason why he can't outscore two vulnerable rivals again on Friday.

Young opened with a one-under round of 71 and he did most things well. But for a couple of ropey shots around the green and a three-putt at the 18th he'd have gone lower still and that's in keeping with his profile, which is one of consistency. Since the FedEx Fall began last September, he's barely put a foot wrong, especially when playing to make the weekend.

Nine of his 10 second rounds during this stretch have been par or better, and if he can manage another, he'll once again make the cut.

Brandon Wu was most disappointing at PGA National two weeks ago and not much of a threat in Puerto Rico, where for the first time he failed to crack the top 10. More worryingly, he was among the worst drivers in the field on Thursday and his prospects of repeating last year's top 20 have surely gone after a round of 75.

Ben Taylor meanwhile has missed seven of his last eight cuts and, right now, is statistically one of the worst ball-strikers on the circuit. That was in evidence in round one where his short-game was red-hot, yet he still produced a ho-hum 73 on what was a day of low scores.

Taylor now has a chance to make the weekend and will feel some pressure I expect, given the size of the purse and how far down the FedEx Cup he languishes. Young also has a job to do but his game has been in far better shape, he's under nothing like the same pressure, and he should really do the business at odds-against unless Wu improves significantly.

Bradley to beat Hadwin and Lee (1824 GMT)

With Tom Hoge shorter than he was on day one and Alex Noren a little unconvincing, I did consider Rory McIlroy, who drove it badly by his standards yet shot 65. It's not difficult to envisage a much improved display in that department and if he continues to strike his irons well, McIlroy will be right in the thick of this throughout the week.

However, short odds against players as capable as Viktor Hovland and Jordan Spieth, whatever their individual issues, can probably be left alone and I'd rather take what some might see as an equal risk and hope KEEGAN BRADLEY holes just one or two putts.

He beat Adam Hadwin and KH Lee by three shots in round one having been one of the very worst putters in the field and as he boasts the best course record (and is the best player) among this trio, I'm a bit surprised he's not hardened to something closer to even-money in what may be a match with Hadwin given Lee's poor record here and generally unconvincing profile.

Hadwin can make everything he looks at on a good day so we have to acknowledge that we risk bumping into one of those, but in the hope conditions get a little tougher, taking the superior long-game has to be the call at the odds.

Posted at 0755 GMT on 15/03/24

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