Zach Johnson could battle his way to a third Major title

Sky Sports Golf, 9am

Open leaderboard
-6 Zach Johnson, Kevin Kisner
-5 Xander Schauffele, Pat Perez, Tommy Fleetwood
-4 Zander Lombard, Tony Finau, Matt Kuchar, Erik van Rooyen, Rory McIlroy
-3 Rickie Fowler, Kevin Chappell, Jordan Spieth
-2 Brandon Stone, Danny Willett, Luke List, Thorbjorn Olesen
-1 Sunghoon Kang, Webb Simpson, Eddie Pepperell, Patrick Cantlay, Matt Southgate, Brooks Koepka, Adam Scott, Kyle Stanley, Alex Noren, Charley Hoffman, Ryan Moore
Par Sean Crocker, Louis Oosthuizen, Stewart Cink, Austin Cook, Phil Mickelson, Shaun Norris, Tiger Woods, Lucas Herbert, Michael Kim, Francesco Molinari, Jason Day

Best prices
6 T Fleetwood, 7 R McIlroy, 15-2 Z Johnson, 9 J Spieth, 10 R Fowler, 14 K Kisner, 16 X Schauffele, 18 T Finau, 20 M Kuchar, 25 P Perez, 30 B Koepka, 50 A Noren, T Woods, E Van Rooyen, 60 T Olesen, 70 D Willett, 80 F Molinari, K Chappell, 90 B Stone, 100 A Scott, L List, Z Lombard, 125 bar

Third-round advice
The 147th Open Championship is wide open heading into the weekend and about 40 players probably still believe they could be lifting the Claret Jug on Sunday evening.

None of the Friday-afternoon starters, who were handed wonderful conditions with which to take control of the tournament, managed to take a stranglehold on the event. The day ended with Zach Johnson and Kevin Kisner sharing the lead at six under par, and anyone level-par or better can still be considered a runner with 36 holes to play.

That is particularly the case given the weather forecast. A clear, calm Saturday should provide the scope for low scoring, while a sunny Sunday is expected to follow. Plenty of birdies will be up for grabs, while Carnoustie always has the power to do serious harm to a scorecard, as Kisner discovered with a double-bogey on the 18th in round two.

In-running outright punters obviously need to narrow the field down as much as possible. Of the leading duo, Johnson is by far the most appealing betting proposition. His last victory came in the 2015 Open at St Andrews and he is a two-time Major champion who has shown he has the bottle for this sort of assignment.

Johnson closed the John Deere Classic last week with a 64 and boarded the plane to Scotland in fine fettle. Formbook students could not have wished for a more obvious 80-1 dangerman, given he has finished in the top 20 in his last three events and in the top-20 in six of his last seven Opens.

Kisner was unimpressive when in contention for the USPGA Championship last year, carding rounds of 72 and 74 over the weekend to finish seventh, and Johnson is the most likely of the front two to hold his position through the final two rounds.

Tommy Fleetwood loves Carnoustie, as he has proved in the Dunhill Links Championship through the years, and the Southport man is clearly another huge Claret Jug contender. It will just come down to bottle for the leading British hope. Can the 27-year-old retain enough composure to become a Major champion?

Fleetwood was close with no cigar in the US Open a month ago, turning into Superman in the final round but failing to birdie any of the closing three holes when he knew he was potentially setting an unbeatable clubhouse target, missing a crucial eight-foot birdie putt on the 72nd hole.

Xander Schauffele has rapidly become a Major performer, finishing fifth and sixth in his two US Opens, and 20th on his Open debut last year. The Tour Championship victor must be respected from only one off the Carnoustie lead.

Rory McIlroy seemed quietly confident and determined in his post-round media conference, outlining his eagerness to “go down swinging” if he was to fail at Carnoustie. McIlroy is desperate to attack the course and it looks like he will get the right weather to do so.

Johnson, Fleetwood, McIlroy and Schauffele, in that order, are the most appealing outright options at this stage, with Rickie Fowler, Thorbjorn Olesen, Matt Southgate, Brooks Koepka, Alex Noren and Tiger Woods expected to make moves from just off the pace.

Third-round twoball punters are pointed towards Johnson against Kisner in the final twoball, which starts at 4pm, while Fleetwood should outclass Pat Perez in the penultimate contest (3.50pm).

Adam Scott, who spent three weeks practising at Carnoustie in the lead-up to the event, has bonded well with new caddie Fanny Sunesson and should know too much for Kyle Stanley in the 2.15pm contest.

Scott and Stanley are two of the worst putters on the circuit, but links-lover Scott, who almost won the Open in 2012, is the most likely of the two to reach the putting surfaces in a regulation number of shots.

Paul Dunne should see off Brett Rumford in the 11am match for early-bird punters. Dunne is comfortable on links terrain, while Rumford carded rounds of 72 and 78 to finish last in the Scottish Open last week. The Aussie has been in dire form.

Twoballs recommendations
Z Johnson
3pts 4-5 Betway

T Fleetwood
3pts 4-7 general

A Scott
2pts 10-11 Betway

P Dunne
2pts 8-11 Sky Bet

Today's top sports betting stories

Follow us on Twitter @racingpostsport

Like us on Facebook RacingPostSport