The Punter's In-Play Blog: Kuchar leads ahead of a marathon Sunday at Sedgefield

• 22 players yet to finish round two

• Veteran shows the way at Sedgefield

• Crowe added to the portfolio

09:45 - August 11, 2024

After losing the whole of the first day, it was always going to be a huge ask to try and get 72 holes played in three days at the Wyndham Championship and an hour-long delay to the start of play yesterday hasn't helped.

With another early start planned, the idea is to try and get the tournament finished today but with 22 players yet to finish their second rounds, it's going to be tough, even if the weather behaves.

I was quite hopeful after the opening day's play on Friday, with pre-event fancy, Billy Horschel, sitting second after round one and a couple of Find me a 100 Winner picks in-the-mix, but it was a disappointing day.

Horschel is still on the premises but his two-under-par 68 wasn't what I'd hoped for, and the two Taylor's failed to shine.

I can't really complain about 1000.0999/1 chance, Ben Taylor's level-par 70, that has seen him slip from fourth to 19^th but I was very surprised at just how poorly Canada's Nick Taylor performed.

Having reached seven-under-par through 14 holes of his opening round on Friday, he birdied his first hole of the day yesterday morning to draw alongside Horschel in second and he was matched at a low of 11.010/1 but he struggled badly after that and he won't even make the cut!

The first-round leader, Beau Hossler, was also disappointing, shooting ten strokes more in round two to lose the lead and it's Dave Tindall's each-way fancy, Matt Kuchar, that will begin today's marathon with the lead, after he opened up the event with back-to-back six-under-par 64s. Here's the state of play with prices to back at 9:30.

Matt Kuchar -12 6.25/1
Cam Young -11 5.95/1
Max Greyserman -11 9.89/1
Chad Ramey -11 17.5
Billy Horschel -10 7.613/2
Aaron Rai -10 9.28/1
Beau Hossler -10 25.024/1
Patrick Rodgers -9 32.031/1
Justin Suh -9 55.054/1
Davis Thompson -8 25.024/1
Brendon Todd -8 46.045/1
Jacob Bridgeman -8 110.0109/1
Charley Hoffman -8 110.0109/1
Trace Crowe -8 190.0189/1
Keegan Bradely -7 60.059/1
Mac Meissner -7 65.064/1 (thru 16 holes - round 2)
Adam Svensson -7 90.089/1
Adam Hadwin -7 100.099/1
-6 and 85.084/1 bar

Mac Meissner is the only player on the leaderboard above that is yet to reach the halfway stage. He has holes eight and nine to play before embarking on his third round, but the stage is set and Kuchar is the man to catch.

Since the event returned to Sedgefield in 2008, we've seen as many as six winners lead or co-lead at halfway so in front isn't a bad place to be as he bids to keep up his incredible and unique streak.

Kuchar, who needs to win here to progress to next week's FedEx St Jude, the first of three Playoff events, is the only man to have played in every FedEx Cup Playoff Series since they started way back in 2007.

The fact that he ranks tied for first for the key stats here of Driving Accuracy and Par 4 Scoring bodes well but I just wonder whether such a long day is going to be ideal for the 46-year-old.

Whether they do manage to finish today, or whether they need to finish off tomorrow, it's going to be a long and gruelling day and that might just take its toll.

Although half-a-dozen victors have been in front at this stage, Kevin Kisner was seven adrift before winning here in 2021 and the 2020 winner, Jim Herman, was trailing by five, so a dramatic Sunday can't be ruled out.

In a bid to get the tournament finished, there won't be a redraw after round three today and that might help the closers. It could easily be a chaotic finish and anyone starting the day two, three, four of more back will finish their fourth rounds before Kuchar and Co.

It's going to be tricky to see what score is going to be enough to lift the trophy and that may well help the chasers so with that in mind, I'm happy to add one more to the portfolio at long odds.

Like the leader, Trace Crowe has so far hit 23 of 25 fairways and he's eight-under-par on the par fours.

Sitting in a tie for 10^th and four off the lead, he needs to maintain that momentum and start picking up strokes on the long and short holes, but he looks a big price at 190.0189/1.

The 27-year-old is yet to threaten the judge on the PGA Tour, but he won the NV5 Invitational on the Korn Ferry Tour last year in a playoff, having reached 25-under-par, so he knows how to win a low scoring birdie-fest, and at just 27, age might be on his side on what is going to be a long day.

09:05 - August 10, 2024

In the aftermath of Storm Debby, Greensboro was hit by more than five inches of rain on Thursday rendering play on day one of the Wyndham Championship an impossibility.

The ground staff were faced with a mammoth clean-up job on Friday, and they did an incredible job to get the course fit for play as early as 9:50 ET.

Drops of Debby. #WyndhamChamp pic.twitter.com/SluQzvtFuI

-- Wyndham Championship (@WyndhamChamp) August 8, 2024

With the course soft, pre-event 270.0269/1 chance and early starter, Beau Hossler, was the first to make a huge move and the 29-year-old played his first five holes in six-under-par!

He cooled off after the blistering start, but he still had a chance to break 60 after back-to-back birdies at 14 and 15. A birdie at any of the last three holes would have seen him match Brandt Snedeker's course record of 59 but after three pars, he had to settle for a ten-under-par 60 in the end. It was still good enough to see him end the day in front though.

Starting out late in the day, my 1000.0999/1 Find Me a 100 Winner pick, Ben Taylor, birdied his first five holes and he matched Hossler's seven-under-par 28 on the front nine but a bogey at 10 halted his progress.

Ben Taylor's front nine in Round 1 @WyndhamChamp:

Birdie
Birdie
Birdie
Birdie
Birdie
Par
Birdie
Birdie
Par

He goes out in 28 on the par 70 pic.twitter.com/QD4MTqcT7q

-- PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 9, 2024

Despite a lacklustre back-nine, the Englishman was still within three of the leader when he pegged it up at 18 but instead of returning this morning to finish his opening round, Taylor elected to finish up in the dark and given he bogeyed the hole, that may have been a mistake. He sits tied for fourth and four off the lead.

Play was eventually suspended for the day due to darkness with the final group only halfway through their opening rounds so it's going to be a long day today.

The first round will resume at 7:00 E.T (12:00 UK time) and the second round will start at 7:40 E.T as the organisers attempt to get the full 72 holes played. Whether that's achievable over the weekend is debatable and so too is which side of the draw is going to be advantaged.

A Monday finish can't be ruled out and I suspect those that started late yesterday may just get the better of the draw. I'm not sure it's ideal for Thorbjorn Olesen, who was in the final group. He'll return this morning to play 27 holes straight away to get to the halfway stage, but it may suit those, like Taylor, that managed to finish their opening rounds before dark, and those with only a few holes to play.

My pre-event fancy, Billy Horschel, who will return to the course this morning to play 17 and 18, is the current favourite after he finished up last night with a birdie two at the 16^th to get to within two of Hosler and another of my longshot fancies, 140.0139/1 chance, Nick Taylor, is the current third favourite.

Alone in third, the Canadian trails Hossler by three and Horschel by one and he has four holes of round one to play so he'll start with the par five 15^th this morning and that's the second easiest hole on the course.

According to the PGA Tour website, the last five winners have been inside the top 15 for both Strokes Gained: Approach and Strokes Gained: Putting and that's good news for Horschel and Taylor, who rank first and ninth and 11^th and first for those two metrics.

The leader, Hossler, ranks fourth and third respectively for SG: Approach and SG: Putting and those three are the only players currently ranked inside the top 15 for those two stats.

Whether those two metrics prove to be crucial again is debatable but with lift, clean and place in operation, I'm in full agreement with Horschel, who had this to say at the close of play.

"If you can put the ball in the fairway, which has always been the case here, you can be aggressive, especially, with soft conditions, that makes it even more important to have the ball in the fairway.

Finding fairways is going to continue to be important as the weekend wares on and the front three, who so far have only hit a combined 21 of 37 fairways faced, will need to sharpen up their tee-game if they're going to continue to dominate.

I'm obviously happy with the start made by Horschel and the two Taylors but there's a very long way to go (if they manage to get 72 holes in) and I'm happy to add one more at a huge price.

Korn Ferry Tour graduate, Chandler Philips, who missed just one fairway yesterday, loves a low scoring birdie-fest and he might just be perfectly placed in the draw with just one hole of round one to play this morning. He currently sits tied for 22nd on -3.

I was happy to chance him at 350.0349/1.

Pre-Event Pick
Bily Horschel @ 30.029/1

In-Play Picks:
Chandler Phillips @ 350.0349/1
Trace Crowe @ 190.0189/1

Find Me a 100 Winner column

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