Rory McIlroy should ease clear of the Bellerive cut-line

Eleven Sports website, 7pm Saturday

Story so far
Thunderstorms forced the late starters off the course in the second round of the US PGA Championship, with play scheduled to resume at 1pm UK and Ireland time on Saturday.

Rickie Fowler was the leader of those on the course at that point – seven under par through ten holes – but three players had already posted superior 36-hole totals.

Gary Woodland is ten under par through two rounds – the pre-tournament 125-1 chance retaining the advantage he built on Thursday – while Kevin Kisner is one shot behind. Back-to-back US Open champion Brooks Koepka is alone in third spot.

Dustin Johnson, 10-1 favourite ante-post, remains at the top of the betting, having reached seven under par at the halfway stage of the event, the world number one closing round two by playing his final seven holes in five under par. He is 9-2 favourite.

The glamour group of Justin Thomas, Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy had got through only seven holes of round two when the hooter sounded to suspend play. Thomas and McIlroy are both in excellent position off the tee at the par-five eighth, so will fancy their chances of picking up a shot immediately when play resumes, while Woods is in the left rough. The projected cut is level par.

Leaderboard
-10 Gary Woodland
-9 Kevin Kisner
-8 Brooks Koepka
-7 Dustin Johnson, Charl Schwartzel, Thomas Pieters, Rickie Fowler (through 28 holes)
-6 Brandon Stone
-5 Adam Scott, Francesco Molinari, Patrick Cantlay, Jon Rahm, Jason Kokrak, Billy Horschel (28 holes), Pat Perez (27 holes)
-4 Emiliano Grillo, Justin Rose, Zach Johnson, Shane Lowry (28 holes), Yuta Ikeda (27 holes), Jason Day (26), Stewart Cink (24)

Selected others
-3 Jordan Spieth, Tiger Woods (25)
-2 Justin Thomas (25)
-1 Tommy Fleetwood
Par Rory McIlroy (25)
+3 Patrick Reed, Phil Mickelson (26)
+4 Henrik Stenson (27)

Best prices
9-2 D Johnson, 11-2 R Fowler, 6 B Koepka, 8 G Woodland, 14 K Kisner, 16 J Day, 28 J Thomas, J Rahm, T Woods, 30 T Pieters, 33 F Molinari, 40 C Schwartzel, 45 J Rose, 50 P Cantlay, 55 R McIlroy, 60 J Spieth, 66 bar

Day-three advice
Gary Woodland has never looked comfortable in Major combat before and his suspect short-game will probably let him down over the weekend, while Kevin Kisner seems likely to be outgunned on a soft, long course.

Rickie Fowler is competing with an injury – an oblique strain – which is far from ideal with so far to go until the finish line. Brooks Koepka and Dustin Johnson are solid options for outright punters, but the juicier prices about Thomas Pieters (30-1), Jason Day (16-1), Jon Rahm (28-1) and Rory McIlroy (55-1) are worth considering.

The A-game of Pieters is capable of winning anything – and the Belgian bomber seems close to his best this week – so from just three shots behind he is well in the hunt.

Day will return to the course at four under par, facing a birdie putt from 22 feet on the ninth hole, then he can attack the nine which Kisner covered in just 29 shots in round two. The Aussie will expect to move into contention before round three.

Rahm is lurking dangerously just five shots off the pace, while McIlroy is in prime position on the par-five eighth. It would come as no surprise to see the Northern Irishman kickstart his round with an eagle straight from the starting gate and make further progress from there.

McIlroy has got the difficult stretch of the course out of the way – four, five and six – and has hope of moving from the cut-line to the top-ten with a behaving putter for the remainder of round two. With bet365 offering each-way terms of a fifth the first five, a small tickle is recommended, given he should flourish on a soft track under windless skies.

Outright recommendation
R McIlroy
0.5pt each-way 55-1 bet365

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