Steve Palmer's Sanderson Farms Championship third-round preview, best bets

Where to watch

Sky Sports Main Event and Golf, 9pm Saturday

Best bets

Mackenzie Hughes to win 8.10pm twoball
2pts 11-8 bet365

Sepp Straka to win 8pm twoball
2pts 20-21 BoyleSports

Brandon Wu to win 7.20pm twoball
2pts 5-6 BoyleSports

Taylor Montgomery to win 5pm twoball
2pts 4-5 bet365

Story so far

Sam Burns was the emphatic Sanderson Farms Championship favourite coming into the event, but the Louisiana man can be backed at 20-1 heading into the weekend at the Country Club of Jackson, Mississippi.

Burns, the defending champion, is five under par through two rounds, five shots off the lead with 36 holes to play. Thomas Detry and Mackenzie Hughes are the joint-leaders at ten under.

Detry has been a regular contender on the DP World Tour, but the 29-year-old Belgian remains a maiden. A strong performance in the Korn Ferry Tour Finals secured him a PGA Tour card for this season.

Detry is 5-1 favourite, having been available at 45-1 ante-post, while Hughes has shortened from 110-1 to 15-2. Sepp Straka, who made his PGA Tour breakthrough in the Honda Classic in February, is a shot behind.

Leaderboard
-10 Thomas Detry, Mackenzie Hughes
-9 Sepp Straka
-8 Mark Hubbard, Garrick Higgo, Scott Stalling
-7 Davis Riley, Nick Hardy, Stephan Jaeger

Best prices
5 T Detry, 15-2 S Straka, M Hughes, 9 S Stallings, 12 D Riley, 16 M Hubbard, 20 S Burns, 22 G Higgo, N Hardy, 30 S Jaeger, 33 E Grillo, 35 D Burmester, 45 bar

Third-day preview

Thomas Detry has finished second on the DP World Tour five times, so it seems unlikely that there will be a mad rush from punters to take the best-price 5-1 about him converting this share of a PGA Tour lead.

Detry has made an excellent Country Club of Jackson debut, but he could easily be swamped over the weekend by more experienced PGA Tour campaigners.

Mackenzie Hughes, who closed with two birdies for a Friday 63, is more appealing at a bigger price. Hughes is certainly not the most stylish golfer in the world, but he can grind results due to a mustard short-game, and he bravely won a five-man playoff for the 2016 RSM Classic.

There is no urge for any additional outright investments, though, with pre-tournament recommendations Scott Stallings (28-1) and Davis Riley (33-1) both well placed to set up a winning opportunity for Sunday.

Stallings was swinging with assurance coming home in round two, finding his final six greens in regulation, covering them in two under par to move two shots off the lead. The three-time PGA Tour champion, who lives in the neighbouring state of Tennessee, finished runner-up in a FedEx Cup playoffs event in August and looks extremely dangerous in this low-grade shootout.

Riley has billed the Sanderson Farms as his "fifth Major", so hopefully the Mississippi man can stay calm over the weekend and get in the thick of things from three shots behind. Round two was a disappointment - he was only one under par on the four par-fives and he three-putted from 20 feet on his penultimate hole - but this is a class act in position to strongly threaten a maiden PGA Tour title in his home state.

The 9-1 Stallings, 12-1 Riley and 22-1 Nick Hardy are the most attractive odds on offer at this stage. Third-round twoball punters are pointed towards Hughes, Sepp Straka, Brandon Wu and Taylor Montgomery.

Hughes, a seasoned PGA Tour campaigner, should be more comfortable in the final pairing and seems a value outsider. The same can be said about Straka, who takes on Tour maiden Mark Hubbard in the penultimate match, while Wu and Montgomery are players full of potential.

It is far less straightforward to be enthusiastic about the future of their Jackson Saturday opposition - Trevor Cone and Michael Gligic. Wu and Montgomery seem much more likely to produce a Saturday sizzler.

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