Steve Palmer's Shriners Hospitals for Children Open third-round preview

When to watch

Sky Sports Golf red button, 4.30pm Saturday

Best bet

Bryson DeChambeau to win the Shriners Open
4pts 3-1 general

Story so far

Five players are tied for the lead through two rounds of the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, but all eyes are on the one competitor who is alone in sixth place - Bryson DeChambeau remains the headline act at the TPC Summerlin.

The US Open champion made a blistering start to the Shriners, opening with a 62 to shorten from 15-2 to 9-4, and even though his second round was less spectacular, DeChambeau still managed to card a couple of eagles, lurking just a shot off the pace at the halfway stage of the tournament.

DeChambeau showed off his incredible power by driving the green at the 380-yard par-four seventh hole, draining a 26-foot eagle putt, then a 367-yard drive at the par-five 16th hole set up a ludicrously straightforward eagle to put him on the leaders' shoulders.

The man who destroyed Winged Foot is a general 3-1 for Shriners victory, with Patrick Cantlay, one of the quintet of pacesetters, a shade bigger at 7-2.

Leaderboard
-14 Martin Laird, Patrick Cantlay, Brian Harman, Austin Cook, Peter Malnati
-13 Bryson DeChambeau
-12 James Hahn, Nate Lashley, Sergio Garcia, Stewart Cink, Wyndham Clark, Sungjae Im

Best prices
3 B DeChambeau, 7-2 P Cantlay, 12 B Harman, 14 S Garcia, 20 M Laird, 22 S Im, 25 P Malnati, A Cook, 33 H Varner, 40 J Hahn, 50 bar

Third-round preview

There was a feeling of clutching at straws when trying to identify valid reasons to leave Bryson DeChambeau out of the ante-post staking plan - and the regret is palpable. He has looked the likely winner from his sixth hole onwards.

Could he match his US Open intensity? No, but he has not needed to - this course is so easy for him that he can make birdies in second gear. Would the threeball with Cameron Champ and Matthew Wolff become an unsettling long-drive competition? No, DeChambeau relished it but played the right shot at the right times, even leaving driver in the bag on a few holes. Would the weekend wind knock him off his stride? Well, the forecast for Sunday has changed to a gentle breeze, so he appears to have only Saturday afternoon to worry about in that respect.

The general pre-tournament 7-1 seemed on the skinny side? What did you expect, sunshine? Bookmakers were hardly going to chalk up double-figures about the player who had just embarrassed the US Open and is threatening to dominate the sport.

No, it is holding hands up time - an ambitious four-pronged staking plan of big-priced outsiders who could upset DeChambeau was a bold and probably foolish approach. Justin Suh is still close enough if good enough - the 300-1 chance is five shots behind with 36 holes to play - but giving DeChambeau a four-shot headstart going into the weekend provides a mountain to climb.

DeChambeau's form figures at the TPC Summerlin over the last three years are 7-1-4 and he seems focused enough on claiming a second Shriners success to justify a belated plunge at the current 3-1, instead of the ante-post 7-1. Hunger for the world-number-one spot - and the chance to stretch clear in the FedEx Cup standings - may be two reasons why he has been so switched on this week.

DeChambeau is 17th for driving accuracy over the first two rounds - remarkable for someone averaging 352.2 yards - he can stamp his authority on this event over the weekend with his long-game class. His short-game has been unspectacular so far - on and around the greens he is yet to sparkle - so any upturn in form closer to the hole can deliver an eighth PGA Tour title.

Patrick Cantlay's Shriners victory came in the tough weather of 2017 - and DeChambeau edged him by a shot in a duel for the 2018 event in more typical conditions. Given Cantlay has only two Tour victories under his belt and has been unconvincing post-lockdown, DeChambeau would be an emphatic favourite if these two went head-to-head down the stretch again. It is a surprise to see Cantlay only fractionally bigger than DeChambeau in the betting.

Suh, Cantlay and Sungjae Im are strong candidates for the places, but DeChambeau looks set for further glory. The final twoball of Cantlay and Martin Laird tees off at 9pm UK and Ireland time. DeChambeau is alongside Peter Malnati at 8.40pm.

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