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

Where to watch

Sky Sports Golf, 6pm Saturday

Best bets

Sam Burns & Billy Horschel to win day-two match
2pts 10-11 Betfair, Power

Brian Harman & Hudson Swafford to win day-two match
2pts 5-6 Betfair, Power

Story so far

For the first time since 2014, every pairing in the QBE Shootout carded an opening round of ten under par or better, as Tiburon Golf Club was destroyed in perfect weather.

The three-day, 54-hole event has not attracted a stellar field this year, but those who entered all arrived in decent nick. The 'scramble' format encourages low scoring and a 62 was the worst score registered.

The all-Australian alliance of Jason Day and Marc Leishman topped the leaderboard, delivering two eagles and 12 birdies in a flawless 55. Defending champions Harris English and Matt Kuchar, chasing a fourth QBE title, are only a shot behind.

Day and Leishman were 8-1 ante-post and have become 11-4 favourites with 36 holes to play. Round two is a 'greensomes', where the best tee-shot in a pairing is chosen, before they play foursomes golf from there. Sunday will see 'betterball' - fourball golf with only the best score in each pairing counting towards the leaderboard.

Leaderboard
-16 Jason Day & Marc Leishman
-15 Corey Conners & Graeme McDowell, Harris English & Matt Kuchar
-13 Jason Kokrak & Kevin Na, Bubba Watson & Lexi Thompson
-12 Brian Harman & Hudson Swafford
-11 Ryan Palmer & Matt Jones, Kevin Kisner & Max Homa, Ian Poulter & Charles Howell, Sam Burns & Billy Horschel
-10 Sean O'Hair & Will Zalatoris, K.H. Lee & Brandt Snedeker

Best prices
11-4 J Day & M Leishman, 7-2 H English & M Kuchar, 5 C Conners & G McDowell, 15-2 J Kokrak & K Na, 11 S Burns & B Horschel, 18 bar

Second-round preview

The action resumes in Naples, Florida, at 4.25pm UK and Ireland time on Saturday - and the event clearly remains wide open. Only six shots separate first from last.

Internationals Presidents Cup captain, Trevor Immelman, was thrilled by the opening day's play and said that Jason Day and Marc Leishman could be a possible pairing for him. That tweet was probably designed to give Day some confidence though - qualifying for the Presidents Cup team is far from certain the way he has been playing recently.

With Day fragile - and the format getting tougher for the rest of the event - the Aussie pacesetters make no appeal at 11-4. It is a surprise to see defending champions, Harris English and Matt Kuchar, are not atop the betting.

Kuchar, like Day, has nothing in the recent formbook to suggest he should be trusted with hard-earned cash, but the record of Kuchar and English in tandem is so outstanding that every QBE Shootout punter has to have them on their radar.

English and Kuchar are chasing a remarkable fourth QBE title this week - and they have smashed all the scoring records at Tiburon in the process of dominating this event. Kuchar seemed galvanised in round one by his return to such a happy hunting ground - and from just a shot off the pace, they have to be considered the most likely winners.

Kuchar has got his teenage son Cameron caddying for him - and given the unsavoury events of the 2019 Mayakoba Classic, one wonders whether this week's 'temporary caddie' will be getting a miserly cut of any earnings. Maybe Cameron will get a couple of Diet Cokes bought for him from the potential $447,500 his father could be in line to pocket.

There is much golf to be played before cheques are handed out. The 7-2 about English and Kuchar seems fair, but it is too early to give up on ante-post fancies Billy Horschel and Sam Burns. A bogey at the second on day one was a savage blow - any dropped shots in the scramble format are particularly punishing - but a back nine of 30 kept them in touch.

From five shots behind, Burns and Horschel - who have both enjoyed a magnificent year - are well capable of getting back in the thick of things down the stretch on Sunday.

Burns and Horschel are much preferred to Ian Poulter and Charles Howell in their 4.37pm match, while Brian Harman and Hudson Swafford can be fancied to account for Lexi Thompson and Bubba Watson in their 5.01pm meeting.

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