Racing Post's Players Championship second-round threeball tips

Golf tips, best bets and player analysis for the second round of the Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass on the PGA Tour.

Where to watch

Live on Sky Sports Main Event & Golf from 11.30am Friday

Best bets

Sergio Garcia to win 6pm threeball
1pt 2-1 general

Russell Knox to win 6.33pm threeball
1pt 9-5 Betfair, Paddy Power

First-round recap

TPC Sawgrass poses a fascinating test for the modern golfer and anyone struggling to find their game can be seriosuly punished at Pete Dye's famous layout, as was the case in round one of the Players Championship on Thursday.

Rory McIlroy started his title defence with a double-bogey at the tenth before firing two balls in the water at the 18th - just as he did at the sixth at Bay Hill last week - which saw him card an eight.

The defending champion limped to a first-round 79 but he was far from the only elite player to struggle as Sawgrass showed its teeth, particularly on the rock-solid Florida greens.

Dustin Johnson, Patrick Cantlay, Daniel Berger, Hideki Matsuyama, Tyrrell Hatton, Xander Schauffele and Tony Finau will all start their second round on the wrong side of par and many of them face a battle to make the weekend.

Meanwhile, while a large number of the ante-post market-leaders were losing strokes, 2008 Players champion Sergio Garcia was on his way to a seven-under 65 which sees him lead by two shots from accurate left-hander Brian Harman.

Garcia's excellent tee-to-green game has stood him in good stead at Sawgrass before and the Spaniard is now 11-2 favourite to win the Players again - odds which no doubt reflect the struggles of many of his most likely rivals.

Precise operators are thriving at Sawgrass, which is playing closer to how it typically did when staged in May. Matthew Fitzpatrick is three behind Garcia alongside Shane Lowry and in-form Corey Conners.

Lee Westwood is four adrift while his Arnold Palmer nemesis Bryson DeChambeau also looms in Garcia's rearview mirror following a first-round 69 which saw him birdie the infamous island-green 17th - a hole where 35 balls met a watery grave on Thursday, four of which came from the bag of Byeong-Hun An.

An needed 11 shots at 17 - one shy of Bob Tway's unwanted record - a score which illustrates the need to minimise mistakes at Sawgrass, particularly when it is playing at its most devilish.

Second-round preview

It has become clear that several key contenders will fail to make the weekend this week but how many remains to be seen.

Johnson, tied for 60th at one over, should be confident of playing all 72 holes and gradually moving his way through the field while the likes of Cantlay and Berger, who are both two over, will expect to make their way within the cut line.

Others will not be so fortunate with McIlroy and Finau needing to go low if they are to extend their tournament beyond Friday.

Garcia tees off at 6pm in the UK & Ireland and, with only ten players within five shots of the favourite, it is not impossible that he will still hold the outright lead when he strikes his first ball of round two.

The 41-year-old will be joined on the tee by the two most recent Players champion, McIlroy and Webb Simpson, and it's Garcia who looks worth a bet to shoot the lowest Friday round.

Logic dictates that Garcia will not replicate his Thursday round but the Spaniard looked in control from tee to green in round one and he might not have to be at his very, very best to land the odds.

McIlroy's struggles are clear for all to see and, while he may mount a comeback in a bid to make the cut, he has an awful lot of ground to make up and any early mistakes may cause him to switch off.

Simpson, who opened with 71, looks the bigger danger but his game is perhaps not quite firing on all cylinders at present which makes the tournament leader an appealing option.

With accurate players coming to the fore, Russell Knox is taken to see off Max Homa and JT Poston in their 6.33pm grouping.

Knox, Scottish but living in Ponte Vedra, knows TPC Sawgrass well and, while his Players record is moderate, he rarely cards a really bad round in the event, opening with 71 yesterday.

Homa is the favourite, and rightly so on form, but he's making his Players debut, although he did play in last year's cancelled event.

He shot 73 yesterday while Poston carded a four-over 76 and, on a tough golf course, siding with experience could prove profitable.

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