WGC Mexico Championship: second-round betting preview, tips, when to watch

TV: Sky Sports Golf, 7pm Friday

Big guns Rory McIlroy and Dustin Johnson could be set for a head-to-head battle for the WGC Mexico Championship, but there is some decent value to be had in other threeball markets in Friday's second round.

Charles Howell led the putting statistics among the 64-man field in Thursday's opening spin, but he needed to gain 5.12 strokes on the greens to post a two-under-par 69 as he struggled with other aspects of his game.

The big-hitter from Augusta found 50 per cent of fairways and it could be that his struggles off the tee come back to haunt him in his second outing of the week.

While playing partner Tom Lewis, who is making his course debut, finishing third at the Saudi International earlier this month, that performance punctuated a couple of average performances in Dubai and the World Super 6 in Australia.

So it could be that South Africa's Richard Sterne emerges as the strongest challenger of the trio at the halfway stage.

He played steadily to match Howell's opening score and he has shown he can compete among strong opposition lately as he finished runner-up at the Abu Dhabi Championship and 13th in Saudi Arabia, so he is attractively priced at 2-1 to win the 5.39pm GMT threeball.

Keegan Bradley missed out on the greens on Thursday but this fine ball-striker can continue to make his presence felt after an opening 69.

Expect him to get the better of Lee Westwood, whose putting prevented an even more disappointing round than his two-over-par 73, and Branden Grace (5.27pm GMT), who finished second at the Phoenix Open thre weeks ago but looks set for his third successive mid-division finish in this tournament after an even 71.

Recommendations
R Sterne to win threeball5.39pm
2pts 2-1 Betfred, Betway
K Bradley to win threeball5.27pm
2pts 7-4 Sky Bet

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