Steve Palmer's RBC Heritage third-round preview, best bets, free golf tips

Where to watch

Sky Sports Golf, 5pm Saturday

Best bets

Cameron Smith to win twoball
3pts 10-11 general

Branden Grace to win twoball
1pt 19-10 bet365

Story so far

Stewart Cink has won the RBC Heritage twice before - more than 28 percent of his PGA Tour victories have come at this venue - and plenty of punters who back 'horses for courses' may have taken the big prices about the Alabaman veteran this week.

Cink has carded back-to-back 63s to reach 16 under par through 36 holes at the Harbour Town Links - an incredible burst of scoring which has left him five shots clear at the top of the leaderboard.

The 47-year-old, who won the Safeway Open last September and finished 12th in the Masters last week, could be backed at 150-1 ante-post for his Heritage hat-trick. Cink is no bigger than 6-4 going into the weekend.

World number one Dustin Johnson has gone from 11-1 favourite to 66-1 after opening rounds of 70 and 67 left him 11 shots behind.

Leaderboard
-16 Stewart Cink
-11 Corey Conners
-10 Emiliano Grillo
-9 Cameron Smith, Collin Morikawa, Sungjae Im, Billy Horschel
-8 Wesley Bryan, Tom Hoge
-7 Abraham Ancer, Shane Lowry, Matthew Fitzpatrick, Will Zalatoris, Michael Thompson

Best prices
6-4 S Cink, 11-2 C Conners, 8 C Morikawa, 12 C Smith, 14 S Im, 16 E Grillo, 18 B Horschel, 28 M Fitzpatrick, 33 W Zalatoris, 35 A Ancer, 50 bar

Third-round preview

If Stewart Cink treads water in round three of the RBC Heritage - or suffers a significant wobble - then the tournament could turn into a thriller for Sunday. A fascinating cast, including Corey Conners, Cameron Smith, Collin Morikawa, Sungjae Im, Billy Horschel, Abraham Ancer, Shane Lowry, Matt Fitzpatrick and Will Zalatoris, are lurking just off the pace.

If Cink retains the composure he showed over the first two days, though, and continues to find Harbour Town a doddle, then he could forge a final-round lead which turns the event into a damp squib.

Bookmakers are happily laying odds-against Cink, which indicates they expect the gap to close over the next 18 holes, and they are probably right to think so. Many a golf tournament has seen a spectacular early frontrunner stumble badly - only two months ago Sam Burns raced into a five-shot lead in the Genesis Invitational - before going on to finish third.

Cink has much more winning experience than Burns - a Tour maiden - so the former Open champion can be expected to handle his position better. There is no urge to take the 6-4, though, and preference is for working out who will provide the main challenge to the leader.

Not that whittling down that list is easy, either. A clear day with light breezes is forecast, so a hot putter seems essential to deliver the round in the low 60s which will apply pressure to Cink. Cameron Smith and Matthew Fitzpatrick are arguably best equipped of the chasing pack to play that role. Smith's magical short-game skills were on show on Thursday, before a flat Friday, and more fireworks could be coming in round three.

Fitzpatrick's campaign was knocked for six by a pulled tee-shot finding water at the fourth hole in round one, but he has fought back well to get into a share of 11th place and will expect to eat into his nine-shot deficit over the final 36 holes.

Smith (12-1) and Fitzpatrick (28-1) seems solid each-way bets with BoyleSports, who are offering the best each-way terms (a fifth the first four) and the joint-best price on the Aussie and the Englishman.

Third-round twoball punters are pointed towards Smith, who faces the ever disappointing Emiliano Grillo in the penultimate match (7pm UK and Ireland time). And Branden Grace, a former Heritage champion who is well suited to the assignment, seems good value against Dustin Johnson in the 4.45pm contest. Nothing is coming easy for Johnson at the moment and his desire for the grind may dip if his winning chance disappears early in round three.

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