John Deere Classic: free tip for second round, betting preview and when to watch

TV: Sky Sport Golf, 6.30pm Friday

Only Ted Potter gained more strokes on the Deere Run greens during Thursday's first round than Joaquin Niemann, which played a huge role in the Chilean carding an opening 65 at the John Deere Classic.

However, despite two fifth-placed finishes in his last three events, there have to be concerns that he will be able to maintain the push.

The John Deere Classic often descends into a putting competition, which is why many believe it is not the best preparation for The Open next week, and it was a surprise to see Niemann figure so highly in that stat given that he stands 170th in the rankings for that particular metric.

Niemann is not without course form - he finished 23rd on his course debut last year - but he could slip away and allow Lucas Glover, who fired a first-round 68, to take the threeball honours in the 7pm group in which they are joined by Ireland's Seamus Power.

Former US Open champion Glover has yet to post a top-ten finish in ten visits to the tournament, but he has stronger putting statistics than Niemann, gaining an average of 0.293 shots per round on the rest of the PGA Tour combatants.

He struck the ball more consistently than Niemann on Thursday and Glover seems to have more scope for improving on his opening showing.

Power is priced at 7-2 to beat his two playing partners on Friday and it is easy to see why.

Although he has finishes of 16-25 in the last two years at Deere Run, he is tailed off in the general strokes-gained statistics - he is ranked 180th.

And his recent form is pretty miserable - Power's best finish in his last five tournaments was the 66th he posted at the Travelers Championship and he missed three cuts in that time.

Recommendation
L Glover to win threeball7pm BST
2pts 8-5 Betfair

Follow us on Twitter

Like us on Facebook RacingPostSport