Steve Palmer's Tour Championship third-round preview, best bets, free golf tips

Where to watch

Sky Sports Golf, 5.30pm Saturday

Best bets

Rory McIlroy top European
2pts 5-2 Coral, Ladbrokes

Rory McIlroy to win 7.27pm twoball (8-13) & Tony Finau to win 6.43pm twoball (20-21)
2pts double BoyleSports

Story so far

Xander Schauffele closed round two of the Tour Championship birdie, birdie, eagle to pile pressure on his pacesetting compatriot Scottie Scheffler.

Schauffele, who started the event four shots behind Scheffler on the unique handicap system used for this tournament, found himself eight behind after bogeying the third hole of round two. The Californian played rock-solid, bogey-free golf to the clubhouse from there, though, carding a Friday 63 to move only two shots off the lead.

Scheffler, who was available at a pre-tournament 3-1 to lead after the first round and win, assumed a five-shot advantage after 18 holes. Six consecutive pars to finish round two, though, meant a disappointing Friday for the Masters champion.

Scheffler, a pre-tournament 12-5 chance, is a general 4-5 for Tour Championship and FedEx Cup glory. Schauffele can be backed at 7-4. Jon Rahm, alone in third place and four shots behind Schauffele, is available at 12-1.

The action resumes at 5.37pm UK and Ireland time, with the final twoball of Scheffler and Schauffele scheduled on the tee at 8pm.

Leaderboard
-19 Scottie Scheffler
-17 Xander Schauffele
-13 Jon Rahm
-12 Patrick Cantlay, Sungjae Im
-11 Joaquin Niemann
-10 Rory McIlroy

Leaderboard without handicaps
-11 Xander Schauffele
-10 Jon Rahm
-9 Scottie Scheffler, Joaquin Niemann

Best outright prices
4-5 S Scheffler, 7-4 X Schauffele, 12 J Rahm, 25 P Cantlay, 40 S Im, 66 R McIlroy, 80 J Niemann, 250 bar

Best 72-hole without handicaps prices
5-2 X Schauffele, 11-4 J Rahm, 5 S Scheffler, 10 J Niemann, 16 bar

Third-round preview

Xander Schauffele's love affair with East Lake Golf Club has continued this week and the cool Californian's magnificent finish to round two has changed the complexion of the PGA Tour season finale.

With Scottie Scheffler well clear in the early stages of his second round, the Tour Championship format was coming in for criticism, but an hour of brilliance from Schauffele set up what should be a thrilling weekend duel.

The effects of those final three holes in the Schauffele-Scheffler second-round twoball could be seen in the post-round interviews. Schauffele dominated the American media-men - smiling, confident, assured - while Scheffler followed seeming more anxious and less convincing.

It is not just the tightening at the top of the leaderboard which has created the self-belief in Schauffele - it is his proud history at the venue. He won the Tour Championship on his debut in 2017 and a total of only three players have outscored him over 72 holes at East Lake in the last three years.

Schauffele has outscored everyone in the field through 36 holes this week and Racing Post Sport's 8-1 Tour Championship outright recommendation will fancy his chances of securing a first FedEx Cup on Sunday.

Schauffele is six shots ahead of sixth place on the main leaderboard, so punters who backed him each-way getting five places can have high hopes of a place return. There is a strong temptation to play up those potential place winnings with an outright press-up at 7-4, which seems a more than fair price about the lead pursuer at this stage.

It may seem churlish to say, but Scheffler is winless since the Masters in the second week of April. Schauffele has won four times since the Masters - once in a pairs event and three times as an individual. Scheffler's putting stroke has become less reliable lately and he struggled on the greens in round two this week. He produced some ragged golf down Friday's closing nine - fortunate his tee-shot at the par-three 15th clambered over the water hazard.

With Jon Rahm showing some trademark anger on Friday, and bogeying 17 after a shocking drive, there seems scope for the Tour Championship and FedEx Cup to become a head-to-head between Scheffler and Schauffele. Punters on Schauffele ante-post may be content with their position, but the 7-4 seems a sensible option for those yet to get involved.

Aside from an opening triple-bogey seven during a heavy burst of rain in round one, Rory McIlroy has played East Lake superbly, as per usual. McIlroy seems a fair price in the top European market, with a three-shot deficit to Rahm at the halfway stage.

McIlroy can be fancied to boss Max Homa in their third-round twoball, while Tony Finau seems another strong favourite against Hideki Matsuyama. Finau, who won back-to-back PGA Tour titles last month, has been in much better nick. Matsuyama has been labouring with injury issues and has ended the year with a whimper.

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