Quartet tied at top of congested Texas leaderboard

Webb Simpson, Danny Lee, Kevin Kisner and Scott Piercy are co-leaders of four going into the weekend of the Dean & Deluca Invitational at Colonial Country Club, the pacesetting quartet reaching six under par through 36 holes.

Simpson was 55-1 for outright success ante-post, while Lee was 80-1, Kisner was 33-1 and Piercy was 150-1. Bookmakers do not give favouritism to any of the four with two rounds to go – Spanish duo Jon Rahm and Sergio Garcia top the betting.

Rahm (5-1) and Garcia (11-2) are both only one shot off the lead, having played together for the first two days. Kisner can be backed at 13-2, Simpson is 9-1, Lee is 10-1 and Piercy is 12-1. Paul Casey is alongside Rahm and Garcia at five under par and a 17-2 poke to claim a long overdue second US Tour title.

Rahm and Jordan Spieth were 12-1 ante-post co-favourites and both are still in the hunt. Defending champion Spieth is two under par, four behind, and has eased slightly to 14-1.

A thrilling weekend seems in store, with the leaderboard hugely congested and several players in with a serious chance. Talented Texas-based Kiwi Lee, who finished a second-round 64 strongly, looks the best value at this stage.

Third-round twoball punters are pointed towards Sean O'Hair, a strong ball-striker who can handle the expected Saturday winds. O'Hair is a Texan used to these conditions and he rediscovered his A-game when closing with a pair of 68s for fifth place in the AT&T Byron Nelson last weekend.

O'Hair faces formidable opposition in the shape of Rahm, but Colonial Country Club is not ideal terrain for the aggressive Spanish youngster to show off his skills. Rahm imploded to an 82 in the third round of the Players Championship last time out and he looks short at 4-7. Power go a generous 21-10 O'Hair for the 6.30pm contest.

The final twoball of Simpson and Kisner is scheduled to tee off at 7pm UK and Ireland time. A breezy but sweltering day is forecast, with temperatures reaching a high of 36C.

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S O'Hair
1pt 21-10 Power