27 August 2022, 10.00am (UK time)

Round 2 Summary

Xander Schauffele continues to hunt Scottie Scheffler down as he closed the gap to two shots. Jon Rahm matched Xander's 63 to emerge as the nearest challneger to the pair.

Notable Round 2 Quotes

"I feel like I've given myself a lot of looks; I've kept the ball in position for the most part. Had a couple bad swings off the tee today, but other than that given myself a lot of looks, and yeah, playing good." Scottie Scheffler

"Well, it fits my eye, the greens being really pure. Just kind of have to do everything pretty well, which sort of feeds into how I play. At times it's okay to be defensive. With ball in hand the first two days it allowed us to be more aggressive if you were in the fairway. That was kind of the mission teeing off on every hole." Xander Schauffele

Round 3 Weather

Partly cloudy all day. Wind max of 5mph.

How do we expect the market favourites to perform?

Scottie Scheffler will feel hard done by to have shot 9 under par over 36 holes and not stretched his lead but such is the level of Xander's play so far that is where we are at. No one is driving the ball better than Xander which is setting up a lot of chances for him. Scheffler is having to work a little harder for his score by missing more fairways however both rank 1st and 2nd tee to green so it will be a tough ask for Jon Rahm and the chasers.

Where is the value?

We considered taking on Cameron Smith again with doubts over his fitness. JT Poston is priced at 17/10 to win their match today however his iron play was worryingly poor yesterday and is putting us off. If you are desperate for some interest over the weekend, Schauffele looks fairly priced at 9/5 to hunt Scheffler down but we will sit on our hands for now and watch day three play out.

Round 3 Bet

• No Bet

26 August 2022, 9.00am (UK time)

Round 1 Summary

Scottie Scheffler has stretched his lead after birdies on his last three holes. Rory McIlroy produced a brilliant fightback from a triple-bogey start to finish the day three under par.

Notable Round 1 Quotes

"At the beginning of the week last week I didn't feel like I was swinging my best, and as the week went on, I started to swing better and better, and that kind of followed me into this week, so it was definitely some good momentum." Scottie Scheffler

"So, yeah, not the best way to start, but battled back well. The golf course is really soft and really gettable, so I knew there was a lot of holes out there that you could birdie." Rory McIlroy

Round 2 Weather

Partly cloudy with chance of later thunderstorm around 5pm local time. Wind max of 5mph.

How do we expect the market favourites to perform?

We said in the Fore the Win podcast week it would be hard to see past Scottie Scheffler and it remains the case. 5/6 is short with three days still left to play though and he has two strong chasers in Xander Schauffele and Matt Fitzpatrick.

Xander has a strong record around East Lake and will be optimisitc of chasing Scheffler down whilst Fitzpatrick shot the round of the day alongside Joaquin Niemann and are unlikley to go away.

Where is the value?

Joaquin Niemann tempted us in the outright market at 33's but the each way terms are not favourable and he is currently seven back of Scheffler. JT Poston and Aaron Wise were also of interest at 33/1 and 20/1 in the 'without starting strokes' markets however there is one round two match bet we want to focus on.

Round 2 Bet

• 4pts Rory McIlroy to beat Cameron Smith 5/6 @ 888 Sport

We advised this bet to subscribers yesterday, coming up one short, but it's hard to see Rory not getting the best of it today. McIlroy gave Smith a four shot headstart after two holes and played the stronger golf as the round went on. Smith is still struggling with his hip injury, Rory commented after the round, "Yeah, his hip doesn't seem -- he was limping there down that last hole. He played great considering, but I think the soft conditions, as well, probably aren't helping him that much." Rory also has a far superior record at East Lake and we expect a strong showing today. Take the 4/5 available generally if you don't have an 888 account.