Steve Palmer's CJ Cup at Summit Club third-round preview, best bets, free tips

Golf tips, best third-round threeball bets and player analysis for the CJ Cup at Summit Club on the PGA Tour.

Where to watch

Sky Sports Golf red button, 10pm Saturday

Best bets

Jordan Spieth to win threeball
2pts 20-23 bet365, Hills

Xander Schauffele to win threeball
2pts 23-20 bet365, Hills

Story so far

Rarely does a 300-1 chance become a general 2-1 favourite after just 36 holes, but Keith Mitchell has set an astonishing pace in the CJ Cup at Summit Club, forging a five-shot halfway advantage.

Mitchell followed a Thursday 62 with a Friday 64 to reach 18 under par, leading a quartet tied for second - a group containing Jordan Spieth.

Three-time Major champion Spieth can be backed at 6-1 to overcome his deficit and triumph in Las Vegas tomorrow. Adam Scott, a graduate of the University of Nevada, is also tied for second place and 12-1 for CJ Cup glory.

The 78-runner, no-cut event will give everyone the opportunity to close with two strong rounds and see if they can threaten the lead, but many big names have been left tailed off in the wake of Mitchell's early brilliance.

Pre-tournament 12-1 favourite, Dustin Johnson, is only four under par, 14 shots adrift, while Xander Schauffele (12 behind), Collin Morikawa (11) and Justin Thomas (ten) also require serious weekend fireworks to get into the mix.

Leaderboard
-18 Keith Mitchell
-13 Seonghyeon Kim, Jordan Spieth, Harry Higgs, Adam Scott
-12 Rickie Fowler, Tyrrell Hatton
-11 Ian Poulter, Erik van Rooyen, Viktor Hovland, Aaron Wise, Mackenzie Hughes, Cameron Smith, Paul Casey, Robert Streb

Best prices
2 K Mitchell, 6 J Spieth, 12 A Scott, 16 T Hatton, 18 V Hovland, 20 C Smith, 22 H Higgs, 25 P Casey, 30 A Wise, 33 R Fowler, 40 bar

Third-round preview

Tour golf is a game played largely between the ears - and the psychological boost that Keith Mitchell received from hearing Rory McIlroy's media conference on Wednesday has probably had a positive impact on the 300-1 outsider this week.

McIlroy was talking about the strength in depth on the PGA Tour - and the name he used to illustrate his point was Mitchell. McIlroy explained how Mitchell "stopped me in my tracks" at the Wells Fargo Championship, so impressed was the Northern Irishman by the Tennessee-born 29-year-old.

Mitchell, the world No. 137, has the admiration of McIlroy - and that fresh injection of self-belief may have contributed to this incredible Las Vegas performance. It would be remarkable if Mitchell managed to sustain this gallop through another two rounds, but he has already done enough to give himself a great chance of a second PGA Tour victory.

The 2019 Honda Classic, in which he repelled Brooks Koepka and Rickie Fowler to win by a shot, is Mitchell's lone Tour success. That brave effort in Florida showed he can see off world-class opposition under pressure, but his first two starts this season - missed cuts in the Sanderson Farms Championship and the Shriners Children's Open - gave no clue for punters that CJ Cup magnificence was coming.

Fine weather and an open course should mean another two days of low scoring. Mitchell seems a fair price at 2-1, but value-seekers should arguably look deeper on the leaderboard.

Jordan Spieth and Adam Scott can be expected to close the gap on Mitchell in round three, but there is still plenty of time for Rickie Fowler, Viktor Hovland and Aaron Wise to do likewise.

Fowler has been working hard in Las Vegas over the last couple of months, even catching up with former coach Butch Harmon, who gave his swing the once-over. Fowler missed the cut by a shot in the Shriners last week, but some confidence seems to be returning. From six shots behind Mitchell, Fowler will be excited about the weekend.

Hovland enjoys Tom Fazio-designed layouts and from a share of eighth place is still well in the hunt for the CJ Cup. Likewise Wise, a Vegas resident swinging superbly. He carded three bogey-free rounds in the Shriners last week - and another came in round two of the CJ Cup. His Friday 67 came despite a negative strokes-gained-putting figure. Any warming of the flat stick over the weekend and Wise should be in the thick of things.

Fowler (33-1), Hovland (18-1) and Wise (30-1) are advised as each-way outright options to consider. Third-round threeballs punters are pointed towards Spieth, who can be fancied to take charge of the final group (8.05pm UK and Ireland time) and Xander Schauffele, a Vegas resident who can build on two opening 69s with a more explosive Saturday. Schauffele faces Kevin Kisner and Webb Simpson at 4.55pm.

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