Golf betting tips for the US PGA Championship second round

Golf tips, best bets and player analysis for the second round of the US PGA Championship at Kiawah Island, South Carolina.

Where to watch

Sky Sports Main Event and Golf, 1pm Friday

Best bets

Viktor Hovland to win threeball
2pts 13-10 Betfair

Paul Casey to win threeball
2pts 13-10 Betfair, Betfred, Hills

Tom Lewis to win threeball
1pt 12-5 bet365

Story so far

Canadian tee-to-green machine Corey Conners continued his strong form in Major championships by charging into the first-round lead at the US PGA Championship at Kiawah Island.

Conners, tenth at the 2020 Masters and eighth at Augusta in April, struck the ball beautifully as Pete Dye's Ocean Course provided a tough test for the best in the game on Thursday.

The 29-year-old carded six birdies and a bogey in a near-flawless round which sees him hold a two-shot lead over former US PGA winners Brooks Koepka (twice) and Keegan Bradley.

Young guns Sam Horsfield, Cameron Davis, Viktor Hovland and Aaron Wise complete a sextet of players who are two back.

While Conners was excellent, several star names found life tough at windswept Kiawah, including Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas, who struggled to find fairways on their way to rounds of 75.

World number one Dustin Johnson, meanwhile, continued his poor form, carding a four-over 76, and all three have work to do if they are to make the weekend in South Carolina.

The second round starts at midday with live coverage from 1pm. Conners tees off alongside Matt Fitzpatrick and Tony Finau at 12.38pm UK & Ireland time.

Leaderboard
-5 Corey Conners
-3 Sam Horsfield, Cameron Davis, Keegan Bradley, Viktor Hovland, Brooks Koepka, Aaron Wise
-2 Phil Mickelson, Branden Grace, Gary Woodland, Kevin Streelman, Sungjae Im, Cameron Tringale, Martin Laird, Collin Morikawa

Selected others
-1 Will Zalatoris, Paul Casey, Tyrrell Hatton
Par Jon Rahm, Justin Rose, Bryson DeChambeau
+1 Jordan Spieth, Xander Schauffele, Hideki Matsuyama,
+2 Patrick Reed, Tony Finay, Jason Day
+3 Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas
+4 Dustin Johnson, Tommy Fleetwood

Best prices
15-2 Corey Conners, 8 Viktor Hovland, 11 Brooks Koepka, 16 Collin Morikawa, Jon Rahm, 20 Keegan Bradley, 22 Bryson DeChambeau, 25 Jordan Spieth, 28 Tyrrell Hatton, 30 Will Zalatoris, Sungjae Im, 33 Gary Woodland, 40 bar.

Second-round preview

Strong ball-striking proved the order of the day in the first round at Kiawah and those who are long enough off the tee but find fairways with regularity are likely to progress up the leaderboard on Friday.

Conners, now the 15-2 favourite to win the event, could fall back quickly if his scrappy short-game is posed a question. He putted superbly on Thursday but that is unlikely to be the case for four rounds for a player better known for his tee-to-green prowess.

Consistent Viktor Hovland struck the ball well in the first round and showcased his improvement around the greens to get up and down from some tricky spots. At 8-1, he deserves to be rated as Conners' biggest threat.

Brooks Koepka's fitness will come into question on this brutally long layout but defending champion Collin Morikawa, who is just three behind, should utilise his precise iron play to get into contention.

Friday threeball punters are pointed in the direction of Hovland, and two Englishman, Paul Casey and Tom Lewis.

Hovland arrived at Kiawah Island on the back of two consecutive third-placed finishes on the PGA Tour and the impressive young Norwegian has the ability to play even better than he did when carding an opening 69 on Thursday.

He tees off at 6.47pm alongside Xander Schauffele, who was ragged with his approaches in the first round, and Lee Westwood, who had to rely on the putter to get him out of jail on a few occasions.

Casey reached three-under at one stage on Thursday and would've been disappointed with a bogey-bogey finish, but he continues to look rock-solid in Major championships and was runner-up to Morikawa in this event last year.

He filled the same position at Kiawah in the 2003 World Cup - alongside Justin Rose - and can get the better of Marc Leishman, who was wayward off the tee in round one, and the promising but inexperienced Garrick Higgo in the 5.52pm threeball.

Lewis, meanwhile, lost strokes on the greens on Thursday but was excellent with his approach play. He looks a value bet in what could swiftly turn into a match with the dangerous Jason Kokrak.

That duo are joined at 7.04pm by Kevin Na, who is seven over and has the potential to lose all interest if he fails to make a swift start.

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