Wyndham Championship: Steve Palmer's halfway analysis and third-round tips

TV: Sky Sports Golf, Saturday 7pm

Byeong Hun An, a pre-tournament 55-1 chance, leads the Wyndham Championship at Sedgefield Country Club by a shot at the halfway stage.

An followed his first-round 62 with a five-under-par 65 to reach 13 under par through two rounds, becoming 7-2 favourite for the North Carolina shootout.

The Korean has never won on the PGA Tour, but he has come close, losing playoffs for the 2016 Zurich Classic and the 2018 Memorial. He also tied second in the Canadian Open last year. European Tour glory came quickly, with a runaway success in the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth in 2015.

Brice Garnett, a 35-year-old journeyman who made his PGA Tour breakthrough in the Corales Puntacana Championship last year, is alone in second place. The ante-post 140-1 poke has been slashed to 16-1.

In-running punters should probably not be rushing to support An at skinny prices. The PGA Tour maiden tag is a significant monkey he is carrying on his back – the 2009 US Amateur champ should have got off the mark by now – and his putter can turn ice cold. Low scoring is essential to keep pace at Sedgefield and An seems unlikely to hole enough putts to repel this field.

Garnett is in tidy form, but not blessed with much in the way of talent, and the most attractive options at this stage are at 11 under par, two shots behind. Sungjae Im, a compatriot of An, is six years younger and carrying less mental baggage. The 21-year-old is a strong all-rounder who should stay in the mix throughout.

Im is respected, but the most likely champion is Webb Simpson, who was double-figure prices ante-post before hitting single-figures as soon as he opened with a first-round 64. A Friday 65, during which he eagled the fifth hole for the second time this week, meant a share of third place for a player who adores Sedgefield.

Simpson, ultra-comfortable on this track and at the top of his game, looks likely to set up a golden winning chance for Sunday. He left himself too much to do over the weekend last year, finishing second with a late rattle, but has kept much closer order this time and 4-1 is surprisingly easy to access with 36 holes to play.

Jordan Spieth is lurking dangerously two shots behind Simpson, but the 2019 weekend putting stats of Spieth do not make pleasant reading and he will need to buck that trend if he is to end his victory drought.

There is loads of bright young talent a little deeper on the board – Matt Wolff, Viktor Hovland, Collin Morikawa and Joaquin Niemann are close enough if good enough – but giving a start to Simpson for the weekend was not advisable. With each-way terms of a quarter the four and 4-1 Simpson freely available, in-running punters have an appealing option. He is such an effective Sedgefield performer.

Third-round twoball punters are pointed towards Brian Harman (5.20pm UK and Ireland time) and Sepp Straka (5.50pm). Harman, eighth in the Travelers Championship in June and seventh in the 3M Open last month, has shown signs of returning to top form and Sedgefield is the sort of layout where he can be most effective. The little left-hander was third in the 2013 Wyndham.

Harman can leave Harold Varner behind in their twoball, while Straka, who is enjoying a fantastic rookie campaign, should carry too much sparkle for Fabian Gomez, the world number 449. Straka, 28th in the US Open, then 11th in the Rocket Mortgage Classic, 26th in the John Deere, third in the Barbasol Championship and 12th in the Barracuda, is making birdies wherever he tees up.

Twoballs recommendations
B Harman
3pts 10-11 general

S Straka
3pts 4-5 general

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