10:15 - August 7, 2022
As it so often does, stormy weather has yet again caused problems at the Wyndham Championship in North Carolina and after a couple of lengthy delays yesterday, the final group still has seven holes of round three to play.
They'll return to the course early this morning to try and catch up and if I get a chance, I'll update the blog once the third round is complete but just in case I don't, the last three 54-holes leaders have been beaten but the previous three winners were all in front after the third round so there are no strong trends to follow.
Somewhat bizarrely, in the 14 renewals staged since the Wyndham Championship returned to Sedgefield Country Club in 2008, nobody's won the title having trailed by one or two strokes after 54 holes.
We've seen eight 54-hole leaders go on to win but JT Poston won from three back in 2019 and after Kevin Kisner's success last year, we've had five winners come from four back with a round to go.
Sungjae Im and Brandon Wu are tied at the top on -12 after the latter named did this on the par four 11th just before the hooter went for a second time but with two strokes separating the top-ten and with almost a round and half to go, the event looks wide open still.
21:10 - August 6, 2022
We witnessed something of a strange day at the Cazoo Open at Celtic Manor today with what looked like being an ultra-competitive tournament turning into anything but as the majority of those on the fringes of contention performing poorly.
As the challengers wilted, the halfway leader, Julien Guerrier, was matched at a low of 2.245/4 after an immaculate three-under-par front nine but he hits the brakes after the turn.
A lengthy par save at the par three 13th looked like it might be a turning point and when he drove the green on the par four 15th he looked all set to reboard the birdie bus but he three-putted for par and bogeyed the 15th.
In contrast, Callum Shinkwin birdied five of his last ten holes and although Guerrier finally made a birdie on the back nine at the par five 18th, the Englishman heads into tomorrow's fourth and final round with a narrow advantage. Here's the 54-hole leaderboard with prices to back at 21:00.
Callum Shinkwin -11 1.814/5
Julien Guerrier -10 3.185/40
Connor Syme -5 25.024/1
-4 and 55.054/1 bar
With a gap of five to the remainder of the field, it looks highly likely that the tournament will be fought out by the front two but a smooth path to the winning line looks unlikely.
Shinkwin's sole success, at the once-only staged Aphrodite Hills Cyprus Open in 2020, was from off the pace and on the five occasions he's been tied for the lead with a round to go he's produced progressively worse results reading 3-2-6-5-25.
And as highlighted yesterday, Guerrier is not one to go to war with.
We've seen today how easily it is to board the bogey bus at Celtic Manor and I'm happy to lay the pair modestly at 1.84/5 and 3.211/5 respectively and see what tomorrow brings.
07:30 - August 6, 2022
The cut has been made at the Cazoo Open in Wales but after a break in play due to a storm late on Friday afternoon, we haven't quite reached the halfway stage of the Wyndham Championship, but with nobody inside the top 38 still out on the course, the leaderboard isn't affected.
Here are the two leaderboards with prices to back at 7:15.
Julien Guerrier -7 6.05/1
Callum Shinkwin -5 6.05/1
Johannes Veerman -5 10.09/1
Thomas Detry -4 7.87/1
Marcus Armitage -4 13.012/1
Espen Kofstad -4 17.016/1
Jack Senior -4 23.022/1
Mikko Korhonen -3 19.018/1
Ewen Ferguson -3 28.027/1
Dale Whitnell -3 46.045/1
-2 and 32.031/1 bar
Joohjung Kim -9 6.411/2
Brandon Wu -9 14.013/1
Ryan Moore-9 16.531/2
Sungjae Im -8 5.69/2
Russell Henley -8 7.413/2
John Huh -8 22.021/1
Davis Riley -7 16.531/2
Anirban Lahiri -7 29.028/1
Brian Stuard -7 75.074/1
-6 and 42.041/1 bar
For the second time in three weeks, Julien Guerrier, is in the thick of it on the DP World Tour.
The 37-year-old Frenchman led the British Masters through 54 holes two weeks ago and after extending his lead on the front nine on Sunday he was matched at a low of just 1.132/15 before he capitulated late on to finish third and he looks one to take on.
Although he's won twice on the Challenge Tour, he's yet to win on the DP World Tour and on the six previous occasions that he's been leading or tied for the lead at halfway on either the Challenge or DP World Tour he's finished sixth, 19th, eighth, fourth, sixth and eighth.
He led the Portugal Masters by five at this stage last September but shot 75-72 to finish eighth, beaten by seven!
The tough nature of Celtic Manor may help Guerrier and four of the previous nine course winners were in front at this stage but his in-contention record is too poor to ignore.
My sole pre-event selection, Eddie Pepperell, was particularly disappointing yesterday, slipping back into a tie for 23rd on level par - trailing by seven - but he's not out of it yet and if the leader stutters the event is going to be blown wide open.
I can see plenty of change occurring today and I'm happy to get involved with three players sitting just off the pace - this year's Qatar Masters winner, Ewen Ferguson, the British Masters winner, Thorbjorn Olesen, and England's Andy Sullivan, who's been showing signs of life of late.
Over at the Wyndham Championship, the big story is the brilliant recovery by 20-year-old Korean, Joohyung "Tom" Kim, who opened the event with a quadruple bogey eight on the par four first!
Having already secured his PGA Tour card for next season, Kim needs to win the event to get into the FedEx Cup Playoff Series, which starts next week, and I wouldn't put it past him.
Kim (nicknamed "Tom" because of his fascination as a kid with Thomas the Tank Engine) finished third in the Scottish Open, made the cut in the Open Championship and the 3M Open, and then finished seventh last week in the Rocket Mortgage Classic, so he's bang in form.
Fellow Korean and pre-event favourite, Sungjae Im, still heads the market but it's a tight looking affair with last year's 54-hole leader, Russell Henley, one of three players tied for fourth.
Brandon Wu and the 2009 winner, Ryan Moore, who's still recovering from a chronic back injury, are tied at the top alongside Kim but like the Cazoo Open, the event looks wide open.
My 200.0199/1 Find Me a 100 Winner pick, Anirban Lahiri, is tied for seventh and just two back and I've now added Davis Riley who sits alongside the Indian.
Coming off the back of a couple of missed cuts. Riley was a 65.064/1 chance before the off but the classy 25-year-old is bang in-contention after a 67-66 start and I thought he was a fair price in what's still a very trappy heat.
09:50 - August 5, 2022
The second round of the Cazoo Open is underway and I'll be back at halfway to take a detailed look at that one.
Scoring was tricky on day one and a four-under-par 67 was the best anyone could muster. My sole selection, Eddie Pepperell, was matched at a low of 6.25/1 when he got to five-under-par through 13 holes but a double-bogey at 14 and a bogey at 15 halted his progress and he ended the day tied for fourth alongside five others, and a shot behind the three co-leaders - Julien Gurrier, Connor Syme and Dale Whitnell.
The scoring was slightly better in the afternoon with the PM-AM starters averaging 0.58 strokes better than their morning counterparts. All three co-leaders kicked off the event on Thursday afternoon and Max Kieffer was the only morning starter to end the day inside the top-nine.
Over at the Wyndham Championship, the morning starters bettered their afternoon counterparts by 0.37 strokes yesterday and two early starters - 260.0259/1 chance, John Huh, and the 18.535/2 pre-event favourite, Sungjae Im - show the way.
Huh shot an impressive nine-under-par 61 and Im sits alone in second following a seven-under-par 63 that included two eagles.
Following his second to Tony Finau at the 3M Open two weeks ago, and with Sedgefield form figures reading 6-9-24, Im was a worthy favourite before the off and at around 7/2, he's a fair price now. Whether to side with the Korean or sit on my hands was the decision to be made this morning. I've opted for the latter.
Last year's winner, Kevin Kisner, sat tied for ninth and three off the lead and Brandt Snedeker won the event wire-to-wire as recently as 2018 but a slow start can be overcome here...
Si Woo Kim went from tied 41st and five adrift after round one to two clear at halfway before winning in 2016, thanks to a 60 in round two, and two of last year's playoff protagonists started slowly too.
Kevin Na sat 63rd and six back before going down in extra time and Roger Sloan sat 128th and nine adrift!
The 2019 winner, JT Poston, and the 2020 winner, Jim Herman, trailed by three and four strokes after round one and like Kim in 2016, Sergio Garcia trailed by five after the first round when he took the title ten years ago.
I'll take another look after round two.
Cazoo Open Pre-Event Selection:
Eddie Pepperell @38.037/1
In-Play Picks:
Ewen Ferguson @ 28.027/1
Thorbjorn Olesen @ 50.049/1
Andy Sullivan @ 65.064/1
Wyndham Championship Pre-Event Selection:
Cameron Champ @ 85.084/1
In-Play Pick:
Davis Riley @ 17.016/1
Find Me a 100 Winner Selections:
Back 2u Chez Reavie @ 100.099/1
Place order to lay 8u @ 10.09/1 & 10u @ 2.35/4
Back 2u JJ Spaun @ 160.0159/1
Place order to lay 10u @ 10.09/1 & 10u @ 2.35/4
Back 1.5 u Anirban Lahiri @ 200.0199/1
Place order to lay 10u @ 10.09/1 & 10u @ 2.35/4
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