Steve Palmer's Shriners Children's Open third-round preview, best bets

Where to watch

Sky Sports Main Event and Golf, 10pm Saturday

Best bets

Sungjae Im to win 7.04pm threeball
2pts 6-5 Betfair, Power

Cam Davis to win 7.53pm threeball
2pts 23-20 bet365, Coral, Ladbrokes

Patrick Cantlay to win 7.42pm threeball
2pts 17-20 Coral, Ladbrokes

Story so far

Mito Pereira has bounced back to form in the Shriners Children's Open and the Chilean leads by a shot heading into the weekend at TPC Summerlin, Las Vegas, Nevada.

Pereira, who was in poor form before his Presidents Cup debut last time out, earned half a point from three matches against the United States. The experience of top-level matchplay appears to have done him good, though, and the 27-year-old maiden has followed up with Shriners rounds of 67 and 63.

Patrick Cantlay and Sungjae Im - first and second in the pre-tournament betting - are both well in the title hunt. Cantlay is tied for ninth place, four shots behind, while defending champion Im is a further shot off the pace in a share of 17th.

The two Kims - Tom and Si Woo - have also responsded positively to being on an Internationals Presidents Cup team with Pereira. The Kims are tied for third place alongside Maverick McNealy.

Leaderboard
-12 Mito Pereira
-11 Robby Shelton
-10 Tom Kim, Si Woo Kim, Maverick McNealy
-9 Kevin Streelman, Cam Davis, Chad Ramey
-8 Patrick Rodgers, Patrick Cantlay, Matthew NeSmith, S.H. Kim, Adam Hadwin, Max Homa, Sam Ryder, Keith Mitchell

Best prices
5 M Pereira, 6 T Kim, 8 P Cantlay, 10 S W Kim, 12 M McNealy, R Shelton, 16 C Davis, 18 M Homa, 22 S Im, 33 K Mitchell, A Hadwin, K Streelman, 50 bar

Third-round preview

The Internationals Presidents Cup side took some pride in defeat - frightening the Americans on the final day before losing 17.5-12.5 - and several Internationals are thriving in the Shriners Children's Open.

Mito Pereira is an unappealing Shriners favourite, given how badly he was playing coming into the event and the fact he is still a PGA Tour maiden. Pereira has won three times on the Korn Ferry Tour, but he blew a golden opportunity in the US PGA in May and is unattractive at short prices.

Robby Shelton is another maiden a shot behind Pereira. Shelton is a four-time Korn Ferry Tour champion and available at 12-1, which is a more generous offer. Shelton has long looked good enough to become a PGA Tour champion.

The Shriners is wide-open, though, with 36 holes to play, and it is difficult for outright punters to be bullish about anyone. Shelton deserves respect, but the Kims - Tom and Si Woo - are lurking just behind. Both the Kims are already PGA Tour champions and they both left the Presidents Cup with tails wagging. Tom was a hit with his wild celebrations at Quail Hollow, while Si Woo defeated Justin Thomas in the singles with one of the gutsiest final-hole displays in the competition's history.

Another International - Cam Davis - is only three shots behind Pereira. Davis will be sensing an opportunity, while former world number one amateur Maverick McNealy has set up another crack at a breakthrough. McNealy lives in Vegas and knows this course extremely well.

Shelton, Tom Kim, Si Woo Kim, Davis and McNealy are all lively runners, with Patrick Cantlay and Sungjae Im tucked in just behind them. It is reasonable to expect forward thrusts from Cantlay and Im, so the seven names mentioned could set up a thrilling Sunday shootout in the Vegas sunshine.

Racing Post Sport's colours were pinned to Cantlay ante-post - and a pair of 67s has laid the foundation for a strong title challenge. His driving has been excellent, so if Cantlay can sharpen up his approaches and his chipping, this regular Summerlin threat should go close to victory.

Cantlay is one of three threeball investments which appeal for round three. The 2017 Shriners champion can boss S.H. Kim and Matthew NeSmith in the 7.42pm (UK and Ireland time) contest, while Davis is much preferred to Chad Ramey and Patrick Rodgers in their 7.53pm meeting.

Im is in rock-solid form and has a terrific Summerlin record, so the Korean deserves to be a shorter price than he is against Mark Hubbard and Christiaan Bezuidenhout (7.04pm).

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