Steele can show his mettle as the going gets tough

Sky Sports The Open & Main Event
from 6.30am Friday

Punters rarely rush to support a player who has carded six over par the previous day, but there are reasons for believing that Brendan Steele can bounce back from a disappointing Open first round in the 2.04pm match at Royal Birkdale.

Steele at least finished well – making a birdie at the 17th and a par at the 18th – and the weather forecast for round two gives the underrated Californian a chance of making the cut. The strongest winds of the week are expected for Friday and Steele has always been comfortable in a breeze.

Steele finished five shots behind both his playing partners in round one and has been dismissed by bookmakers for the rematch, but the tougher conditions for the next 18 holes could work in his favour. The 9-4 that he turns the tables on Alexander Levy and Webb Simpson is worth taking.

Steele won his maiden US Tour title in the 2011 Texas Open, a tournament in which he usually performs well, and the Lone Star State is notoriously windy. Controlling your ball off the tee will be the main test at Birkdale in round two and Steele lies eighth on the US Tour's total driving statistic.

Steele has finished 27th in the Masters, sixth in the Players Championship and 13th in the US Open this season, so has been performing solidly in the biggest events, and he could easily dig deep in Southport to progress to the weekend.

Levy made a mess of the final hole in round one, missing a tiddler and carding a double-bogey, storming off the green dejected. The Frenchman prefers easier courses and his long, flowing swing is not ideal for competing in the wind. Simpson is 87th on the total driving stats.

Another second-round threeball price which appeals is the 11-10 about Branden Grace defeating Jason Dufner and Bryson DeChambeau (12.53pm). Grace fought back well from two over par to shoot a level-par opening round, looking at ease from tee to green.

Grace has been reunited with his old caddie and the seven-time European Tour champion appears to be rediscovering the form which made him a Major contender in 2015 and 2016. The South African has a naturally low ball-flight and will be licking his lips at the prospect of moving up the leaderboard on a windy Friday.

Grace lives by the Fancourt Links in his homeland and loves this type of track. He beat Dufner by three shots in round one and DeChambeau by six. The American pair are far less comfortable with this type of challenge.

Dufner topped a wood along the ground at the sixth hole during his three-over-par 73 and did not have his usual long-game assurance. DeChambeau looked bemused and frustrated throughout his 76 and his Open debut seems likely to be a short one.

Recommendations
B Steele
2pts 9-4 bet365
B Grace
2pts 5-4 Coral