Steve Palmer's Wells Fargo Championship third-round preview, best bets

Where to watch

Sky Sports Golf red button, 1pm Saturday

Best bets

Gary Woodland to win the Wells Fargo Championship
2pts each-way 8-1 Betfred, BoyleSports, Coral, Ladbrokes

Gary Woodland to win twoball
2pts 23-20 general

Patrick Rodgers to win twoball
2pts 10-11 general

Story so far

Rory McIlroy is favourite to win the Wells Fargo Championship, having seemingly restored confidence in his game since missing the cut in the Masters.

The four-times Major champion has been grinding on the practice ground with new coach Pete Cowen and they have achieved immediate results, with McIlroy purring from tee to green at one of his favourite courses, moving only two shots off the lead.

McIlroy was available at 20-1 ante-post this week, despite the fact he won this tournament by four shots in 2010 and by seven in 2015. He had missed three of his last five PGA Tour cuts prior to this week, as well as suffering a group-stage elimination in the WGC-Match Play.

The Northern Irishman is 9-2 market leader heading into the weekend. The field is bunched, with only eight shots separating first place from last. McIlroy famously went from the cut-line to the trophy at Quail Hollow 11 years ago - and anybody who has qualified the for the third round will still feel they have a chance.

Jon Rahm, 11-1 pre-tournament joint-favourite with Justin Thomas, missed the cut by two shots. Thomas is level par, tied for 41st place.

Leaderboard
-6 Matt Wallace, Gary Woodland, Patrick Rodgers
-5 Kramer Hickok
-4 Scott Piercy, Rory McIlroy, Keith Mitchell, Carlos Ortiz, Scott Stallings
-3 Luke List, Phil Mickelson, Bubba Watson, Abraham Ancer

Best prices
9-2 R McIlroy, 7 M Wallace, 8 G Woodland, 16 P Rodgers, A Ancer, 20 P Reed, 22 B Watson, C Ortiz, V Hovland, 25 J Thomas, 28 K Mitchell, 33 B Harman, 40 C Conners, S Stallings, K Hickok, 45 bar

Third-round preview

Rory McIlroy has been chirpy this week, explaining how he has decided to virtually eliminate the draw-shot from his driver technique, seemingly going along the path which Dustin Johnson used to become a more consistent operator.

McIlroy says he will employ only a cut with his driver in future - using the three-wood whenever he requires a draw - hoping to enjoy more control and tee-to-green solidity.

It is a wild change of direction given that only a few weeks ago McIlroy admitted that he had been chasing speed and distance in a bid to keep up with Bryson DeChambeau. There appears to be a fresh acceptance from McIlroy that finding more fairways will yield better results than any extra yardage.

Regardless, it has been his improved iron-play which has built his latest Wells Fargo title challenge. McIlroy has impressed on approach and from only two shots off the lead can approach the weekend with confidence. A Quail Hollow hat-trick is entirely feasible and his fans who kept the faith by taking the pre-tournament 20-1 should be on great terms with themselves. There is no urge to get involved at 9-2, though, given his long victory drought and the amount of players still in contention.

Gary Woodland at almost double the price of McIlroy is more interesting. Woodland, thrilled to be over back problems which troubled him for months, has actually benefitted from McIlroy's new relationship with Cowen. With Cowen in Florida lately, it allowed Woodland to work with him away from a tournament for the first time in ages, and the 2019 US Open champion says they made significant breakthroughs.

Woodland at 8-1 from a share of the lead at a course where he finished fourth in 2015 seems a bargain. Ante-post hope, Viktor Hovland, is still well in the hunt from five shots behind, but adding Woodland to the stable seems a sensible move.

Woodland also looks a bargain as outsider against PGA Tour maiden Matt Wallace in the final third-round twoball (6.45pm UK and Ireland time), while former Quail Hollow runner-up, Patrick Rodgers, can outgun Kramer Hickok in the penultimate match.

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