Steve Palmer's Sony Open in Hawaii third-round preview, best bets, free tips

Where to watch

Sky Sports Golf, 8pm Saturday

Best bets

Maverick McNealy to win the Sony Open in Hawaii
1pt each-way 22-1 Hills

Story so far

Many punters started the weekend with sore heads, while bookmakers were lauding the Sony Open in Hawaii, as the top three in the ante-post betting all failed to qualify for round three.

Jordan Spieth backers had the most bitter pill to swallow, with the Texan following a first-round 64 with a Friday 75 to miss the cut. Spieth had a share of the lead after round one, but made six bogeys in round two. It was the first time he had ever led a tournament and missed the cut.

Tom Kim putted abysmally throughout to also book a weekend off. Kim ranked 142nd of the 144 runners in the putting stats after rounds of 72 and 69. A pair of 71s meant Kim's fellow Korean Sungjae Im was also packing his bags and leaving Hawaii on Friday night.

The flops of the market principals means the Waialae Country Club event is wide-open with 36 holes to play. Pre-tournament 90-1 chance Chris Kirk leads at 11 under par and is 5-1 to complete the job. Taylor Montgomery, a shot behind, is 4-1 favourite.

Leaderboard
-11 Chris Kirk
-10 Taylor Montgomery, JJ Spaun
-9 Hayden Buckley, David Lipsky
-8 Ben Taylor, Austin Eckroat, S.H Kim

Best prices
4 T Montgomery, 5 C Kirk, 11-2 JJ Spaun, 12 H Buckley, 16 D Lipsky, 20 JT Poston, 22 M McNealy, 28 D McCarthy, 33 S.H Kim, 35 B Todd, B Taylor, 40 bar

Third-round preview

Sony Open tournament organisers were probably not impressed with the conduct of Davis Thompson - the only player who has failed to complete his second round. Thompson elected not to putt on the 18th green, complaining of darkness, so the third-round draw has to wait.

Thompson will return to the course to putt for eagle from 57 feet - he will make the cut if he avoids a four-putt - then Saturday groups can be chalked up.

A sunny, warm, calm day awaits the weekend qualifiers. With hardly any wind, scoring should be excellent, so somebody in the chasing pack seems likely to shoot in the low-60s. Justin Thomas has a 59 to his name on this track to further inspire the pursuers.

Chris Kirk is winless on the PGA Tour since May, 2015, and has let chances slip over the last seven and a half years, most notably when second in the 2021 Sony Open. Four rounds of 65 meant he lost by a shot. He was also second in the 2014 Sony Open.

Taylor Montgomery had not seen Waialae prior to this week, but he is bursting with form and confidence, having graduated from the Korn Ferry Tour to become a PGA Tour leaderboard regular. Punters have to decide whether Kirk's course comfort counts for more than Montgomery's form edge.

With Kirk one shot ahead of Montgomery - and four PGA Tour titles ahead - the Knoxville man probably deserves slight favouritism. Preference at this stage, though, is to delve deeper on the board for a big-price alternative who could throw their hat in the ring with a Saturday sizzler.

Pre-tournament pick Harris English carded a gutbusting seven at his final hole of round two, but from only six shots behind he could easily get back into the thick of things if he can shrug off that setback.

This seems a sensible moment, though, to add Maverick McNealy to the staking plan. The former world number one amateur closed round two with back-to-back birdies and must be sensing a great opportunity of a PGA Tour breakthrough. There is nobody left in this field to fear and the 27-year-old Californian is lurking dangerously from four shots off the pace.

McNealy is a superb putter who will relish the easy Saturday conditions. Two of his best PGA Tour performances have come on short courses by the coast - second place in the 2021 Pebble Beach Pro-Am and fourth place in the 2021 Heritage - and Waialae sets up nicely for him. He finished 27th on his Sony Open debut last year and can build on that by contending this time.

McNealy has always seems destined for PGA Tour success and his game was in fine fettle in the second half of last year. He has started 2023 strongly and is well worth an interest at 22-1 with two rounds to play in Hawaii.

Betting offers

• Paddy Power are giving away free bets to new and existing customers and all you need is an account. Sign up here
• Sky Bet are offering new customers multiple free bets when they sign up. Click herefor free bets, money-back specials and BuildABet free bets
• Betfair have lots of offers and money back offers. Sign up for a new account here
• To get free bets from Ladbrokes today, simply sign up to a new account here
• Don't have a Coral account? They have an offer for new customers here
• New William Hill customers can claim free bets and benefit from their daily offers including Scratch Of The Day by clicking here