Steve Palmer's QBE Shootout second-round preview, best bets, free golf tips

Where to watch

Sky Sports Golf, 6pm Saturday

Best bets

Harris English & Matt Kuchar to win 4.24pm match
3pts 8-13 Betfair, Power

Trey Mullinax & Scott Stallings to win 4.12pm match
2pts 17-20 Coral, Ladbrokes

Max Homa & Kevin Kisner to win 4.48pm match
1pt Evens Betfair, Power

Story so far

Charley Hoffman and Ryan Palmer have set the early pace in the QBE Shootout at Tiburon Golf Club, Naples, Florida. The veterans posted a 16-under-par 56 in the Friday scramble to take a two-shot lead.

Hoffman and Palmer enjoyed carding three eagles - at the par-fives of one, six and 17 - and they played the four par-fives in seven under par. The surprise leaders have shortened from 18-1 to 7-2 favourites.

Jason Day and Billy Horschel - the ante-post market leaders - are tied tenth of 12 teams. The leaderboard is so congested, though, that still leaves them only five shots behind and 12-1 for victory.

Leaderboard
-16 Charley Hoffman & Ryan Palmer
-14 Corey Conners & K.H. Lee, Max Homa & Kevin Kisner
-12 Keith Mitchell & JJ Spaun, Tom Hoge & Sahith Theegala, Brian Harman & Sepp Straka, Harris English & Matt Kuchar, Maverick McNealy & Lexi Thompson, Nelly Korda & Denny McCarthy

Best prices
7-2 C Hoffman & R Palmer, 9-2 C Conners & K.H. Lee, M Homa & K Kisner, 8 H English & M Kuchar, 10 B Harman & S Straka, T Hoge & S Theegala, 12 bar

Second-round preview

The forgiving nature of scramble golf means every pair in the 12-team Shootout managed to get double-figures under par, with Steve Stricker and Cameron Young bringing up the rear in last place.

The event is wide-open with 36 holes to play - 18 holes of greensomes and 18 holes of betterball - and 7-2 about the leaders makes no appeal.

The greensomes format - the most difficult of the three types of scoring being used - should create more separation on the leaderboard. There is less margin for error, so the weaker pairings can be expected to fall away.

Racing Post Sport pre-tournament recommendations, Harris English and Matt Kuchar, are three-time Shootout champions who have proved themselves in all formats. From a share of fourth place, expect the Georgia-based duo to forge forward over the weekend.

Max Homa and Kevin Kisner will be thrilled with the way they finished round one - putting themselves in the thick of things from the off - and the American pair are the most attractive options of those ahead of English and Kuchar in the outright betting.

The greensomes start at 4pm UK and Ireland time and it may be worth opposing the two LPGA stars in attendance - Lexi Thompson and Nelly Korda. The pair were underrated for round one, but the opposite seems to be the case for round two.

The women play from the same tees as the men, so there will be a lot of pressure on the male member of the pairing to get his drive away long and straight to lay a strong foundation for the par-fours and fives. Any bad misses from their partners - Maverick McNealy and Denny McCarthy - could be costly. And both McNealy and McCarthy have loose drives in them.

English and Kuchar look rock-solid investments against Thompson and McNealy (4.24pm), while Trey Mullinax and Scott Stallings are on offer at surprisingly generous odds against Korda and McCarthy (4.12pm).

Homa and Kisner enjoyed themselves in round one and the Presidents Cup colleagues appear to have fallen in love with the Shootout assignment. They are preferred to Keith Mitchell and JJ Spaun in this format (4.48pm).

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