Zach Johnson thrives as storms soak San Antonio

Sky Sports Golf, 6pm Saturday

Ryan Moore and Zach Johnson, 28-1 and 50-1 respectively on tournament-eve, are tied for the lead in the Texas Open at TPC San Antonio after two rounds.

Moore is a five-time US Tour champion who has not tasted victory since the 2016 John Deere Classic, while Johnson is a 12-time US Tour champ on an even longer drought. The 2015 Open Championship, his second Major title, is the last time Johnson lifted a trophy.

The two prolific winners, both eager to retain their place on the USA Ryder Cup team, dominate the betting at the halfway stage. Moore and Johnson are 3-1 co-favourites and it is 11-1 bar. Sergio Garcia was the ante-post 14-1 market leader, but he missed the cut by a shot.

Andrew Landry and Grayson Murray are tied for third place, a shot behind, and there is a further two-shot gap to those in fifth spot.
Outright punters should arguably be concentrating on Johnson (3-1), Landry (11-1), Murray (11-1), Chesson Hadley (22-1) and Beau Hossler (33-1), while Ollie Schniederjans can be fancied to make a move up the leaderboard from 25th place and is a general 80-1 chance who should not be entirely dismissed.

Johnson has a fantastic record in Texas, where he has won four US Tour titles, and has demonstrated immense bottle on numerous occasions. He should be clear favourite over Moore, who has only low-grade US Tour victories to his name, has never triumphed in Texas and is less secure under pressure.

Landry is a Texan enjoying himself on home turf and is well suited to the course. He finished 15th in the US Open in his only Major appearance and relishes the more difficult layouts. TPC San Antonio fits the bill and the man who finished runner-up to Jon Rahm in the CareerBuilder Challenge in January seems likely to hang around on the Texas Open leaderboard throughout.

A changing of the playing conditions could help Murray, Hadley and Hossler. Overnight thunderstorms, which are set to continue sporadically throughout round three, makes for a softer track. The aforementioned trio are attacking, big-hitting players who will appreciate the extra cut in the ground, and all are close enough to the lead to assert themselves over the weekend.

Although a full 18 holes of competition seems unlikely for day three due to the storms, a bright forecast for Sunday means a 72-hole event is long odds-on. Johnson is the man to beat, but Landry, Murray, Hadley and Hossler are well in the hunt.

Third-round threeball punters are pointed towards the power-packed Schniederjans, who can be expected to go low on the softened track and can defeat Abraham Ancer and Kevin Tway in the 3.15pm UK and Ireland time match, while Hadley is also worth supporting at 4.55pm. Hadley carded a bogey-free second round and can outgun Keegan Bradley and Denny McCarthy.

The final threeball of Moore, Johnson and Landry is scheduled to tee off at 5.25pm, but all tee-times may get delayed due to bad weather.

Recommendations
O Schniederjans to win threeball
1pt 11-8 general

C Hadley to win threeball
1pt 6-4 bet365, Hills

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