Steve Palmer's Zozo Championship second-round preview, free golf betting tips

Where to watch

Sky Sports Golf, 5am Friday

Best bets

Collin Morikawa to win threeball
2pts 23-20 bet365

Story so far

Local hero Hideki Matsuyama has taken over as Zozo Championship favourite after upstaging the American raiders on day one at Narashino Country Club.

Matsuyama fired a 64, sharing second place and only one shot off the lead, shortening from 12-1 to 11-4, as Xander Schauffele and Collin Morikawa struggled. Hiroshi Iwata, an ante-post 200-1 outsider, is setting the pace at seven under par.

Round two starts at 12.30am UK and Ireland time on Friday morning. Light rain is forecast all day, getting heavier in the closing stages. Winds should be light throughout.

Leaderboard
-7 Hiroshi Iwata
-6 Joaquin Niemann, Hideki Matsuyama
-5 Matt Wallace
-4 Brendan Steele

Best prices
11-4 H Matsuyama, 14 T Fleetwood, M Wallace, 20 J Vegas, X Schauffele, 22 C Tringale, 25 B Steele, 28 H Iwata, 33 C Morikawa, A Noren, W Zalatoris, 35 M Jones, 40 bar

Second-round preview

Xander Schauffele and Collin Morikawa may blame jet-lag for their sluggish starts - Schauffele is level par, while Morikawa is one over - and both will be hopeful of improving as the week wears on.

The Americans have given Hideki Matsuyama a significant start, though, going into the final three rounds. Matsuyama said in his pre-tournament media conference that "If my game was ten out of ten going into the Masters, it is one out of ten going into this!", so he has surprised himself with his excellent Thursday form.

The market has arguably overreacted to the first round, with Schauffele and Morikawa shunted out to 20-1 and 33-1 respectively. Schauffele is only three shots off sixth place, such is the bunched nature of this small field, and the Yanks are well capable of surging into contention.

Matsuyama clearly arrived in his homeland lacking confidence after a poor fortnight in Las Vegas, so it seems far from certain he will kick on from this fantastic start.

Expect a resurgence from Morikawa in round two. The odds-against quotes for his threeball (2.09am) against South African duo Garrick Higgo and Erik van Rooyen seem generous.

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