Open Championship golf predictions and third-round twoball betting tips: Harman in charge at the halfway stage

Where to watch the Open Championship

Live on Sky Sports Main Event & Golf from 10.30am Saturday

Best bets

Tommy Fleetwood to win 3.30pm twoball
2pts 8-11 Coral, Ladbrokes

Matthew Jordan to win 2.05pm twoball
1pt 10-11 Betfair, Paddy Power

Min Woo Lee to win 3.20pm twoball
1pt 20-23 BoyleSports

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Story so far

Major maiden Brian Harman is the 6-4 favourite to win the 151st Open Championship after the American reached ten under par through 36 holes of the tournament with a bogey-free 65 in Friday's second round at Royal Liverpool Golf Club.

Having tied the 18-hole course record, Harman heads into the weekend with a five-shot lead on Englishman Tommy Fleetwood, who made a five-foot putt to seal a place in the final group. Fleetwood is 5-1 to claim the Claret Jug and will hope to close the gap on Harman when he tees off alongside the leader at 3.30pm UK and Ireland time.

Austrian Sepp Straka sits third on an eclectic Hoylake leaderboard, six shots adrift of Harman, while Min Woo Lee, Shubhankar Sharma and Jason Day are seven back in a share of fourth place.

Pre-tournament favourite Rory McIlroy followed a level-par opening round with a one-under 70 on Friday and is 11-1 to win the Open from nine shots in arrears while Jon Rahm, and Cameron Smith, who are both two over, and Brooks Koepka and Scottie Scheffler (three over) all made the cut but have work to do to get into contention over the weekend.

Leaderboard
-10 Brian Harman
-5 Tommy Fleetwood
-4 Sepp Straka
-3 Min Woo Lee, Shubhankar Sharma, Jason Day
-2 Adrian Otaegui, Emiliano Grillo, Jordan Spieth, Cameron Young
-1 Matthew Southgate, Thriston Lawrence, Rory McIlroy, Max Homa, Guigo Migliozzi, Michael Stewart, Matthew Jordan, Stewart Cink, Henrik Stenson, Wyndham Clark, Nicolai Hojgaard, Antoine Rozner, Richard Bland, Laurie Canter

Best prices
6-4 B Harman, 5 T Fleetwood, 11 R McIlroy, 16 J Spieth, 18 J Day, 20 S Straka, M W Lee, 28 C Young, 35 W Clark, 45 V Hovland, 50 bar.

Open Championship third-round predictions

Brian Harman was 110-1 to win the Open Championship before a ball was struck but the American left-hander enters the weekend in a commanding position as he bids to claim a first Major and first title since winning the 2017 Wells Fargo Championship on the PGA Tour.

The two-time Tour winner drove the ball with his customary precision on Friday but it was a red-hot putter which helped to establish a five-shot lead as he gained more than eight shots on the field on the Hoylake greens over the first two rounds.

The fate of the Claret Jug depends on how Harman performs over the next 36 holes but he is sure to feel the Major pressure at some point and the extensive bunkering and run-off areas at Royal Liverpool, as well as the treacherous internal out of bounds, all have the potential to bring huge numbers into play. The expected substantial weekend rain is also far from ideal for one of the shorter drivers in the field.

If the favourite does falter, Tommy Fleetwood looks most likely to profit but that's reflected in the prices. Rory McIlroy will relish a rain-softened Hoylake layout, although he has looked some way short of his best from tee to green over the first two days.

It's hard to pinpoint any worthwhile outright wagers but there are plenty of twoball bets which appeal, with those who drive the ball a long way looking the best options with rain likely to play to their strengths, and Fleetwood in particular has a distance advantage over Harman while he should relish the opportunity to chase down the leader.

The Southport man didn't have his A-game on Friday but he coped well in tough conditions and he has looked assured on the greens of Royal Liverpool, where he will be greeted with the lion's share of support from a home crowd.

It will be a surprise if he does not eat into Harman's lead on Saturday and, for all that he is one of the best putters on the PGA Tour, the American is unlikely to sustain those flat-stick numbers for a third successive round.

Another local hero who merits support is Matthew Jordan, who tees off alongside former champion Stewart Cink at 2.05pm.

Cink is on his way to securing top senior honours but he was in senior Major action in the US last week and, after following an opening 68 with a 73, he could continue to slide back over the weekend.

Jordan, a Royal Liverpool member who came through local qualifying to seal his place in the field, has relished the opportunity this week and he has the ability to hang tough in familiar Merseyside conditions.

Both Min Woo Lee and Sepp Straka will believe they can win the Open but it's Aussie ace Lee who looks most likely to make inroads on Harman's lead this afternoon.

The pair tee off at 3.20pm and Lee, who has played the 26 holes in five under,  can make use of his additional power to go lower than Straka, who is playing well but remains an inconsistent sort who is capable of posting massive numbers when things aren't going his way.

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