Steve Palmer's Open Championship second-round threeballs preview, best bets

Where to watch

Sky Sports Main Event and Golf, 6.30am Friday

Best bets

Robert MacIntyre to win 1.26pm threeball
2pts 8-5 bet365

Cameron Smith to win 1.04pm threeball
2pts 11-10 bet365

Lucas Herbert to win 12.31pm threeball
1pt 29-20 bet365

Preview

Cameron Young humbled the Old Course on day one of the Open Championship, but it is notoriously difficult to follow a super-low round with another, particularly when you are frontrunning on your debut in the greatest tournament of them all.

Young will have surprised himself with his 64 at the home of golf. The 25-year-old has missed the cut in four of the five Majors he has played, so has found it difficult to settle quickly in the most prestigious events on the calendar. He managed to find a groove early on Thursday when out of the spotlight, but the pressure will be much more intense on the first tee Friday lunchtime.

Young, who has never won on the PGA Tour and has played hardly any links golf in his short career, looks a short price to kick on by winning his Friday threeball. The New Yorker seems worth opposing with local lad Robert MacIntyre, who played some great golf himself in round one.

MacIntyre carded six birdies in his 70 at a track which is familiar to him. The Scottish left-hander looks well capable of getting himself in the thick of things and building on his impressive Open record. He has finished sixth and eighth in his two previous Opens, and he has never missed a cut in his nine previous Majors.

Kyoung-hoon Lee, like Young, is an Open debutant still learning the ropes on links terrain, and the Korean has missed the cut in five of his seven previous Majors.

Australian pair Cameron Smith and Lucas Herbert are comfortable with this week's assignment and can also be fancied for their threeball missions on Friday afternoon, particularly with some moderate breeze expected for the second nine of their rounds.

Smith's rock-rolling ability counts for plenty this week, with St Andrews setting up countless putts from long-range. The United Kingdom is being baked by a heatwave and the most famous links in the land will only get firmer and faster as the week wears on.

Smith possesses one of the best short-games on the circuit, while his compatriot Herbert has been excelling in that department this season. Both Aussies can be expected to build on their positive opening rounds - a 67 and a 70, respectively.

Smith finished six shots ahead of the increasingly inconsistent Brooks Koepka and Open debutant Seamus Power in round one, and he seems likely to deliver a repeat victory.

Phil Mickelson has not played much golf lately, and has failed to impress when he has, so the 12.31pm group seems between Herbert and Kurt Kitayama. Herbert's class close to the hole and his obvious love for links golf makes him the value option.

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