After a change in tee times, Ben Coley revises his round three preview with a three-ball double at 9/2.
Due to a weather delay, two-balls have been canceled and replaced with three-balls. The selections for two-balls published earlier today can be found further down the page. Most bookmakers will honor these, although Sky Bet will void them according to their golf rules. Our recommended bets with bet365 will be settled regardless of the outcome.
For additional insights and analyses on the outright market and two-ball selections, scroll past the three-ball information.
Recent rain has prompted the PGA to switch from two-balls to three-balls for the third round of this otherwise disappointing major championship, leading to some favorable matchups.
I noted earlier that I would favor against Luke Donald unless matched with Beau Hossler, and now we can include the consistently strong COREY CONNERS to outperform them both.
Conners has been outstanding tee-to-green, and his long-game statistics at Quail Hollow are impressive by any measure. He enjoys this course and is expected to do well.
While Donald performed slightly better than anticipated yesterday, he still lost his three-ball, and the additional rain will not benefit one of the weaker drivers in the field, ranking 153rd out of 155 in the first two rounds.
As for Hossler, his play has been shaky, standing at 128th in strokes gained ball-striking and 152nd in driving accuracy. In contrast, Conners is ranked third for strokes gained and second for driving accuracy. For either Hossler or Donald to defeat Conners, they would need him to perform poorly or be exceptionally good with his putting.
Harris English and Denny McCarthy were my initial two-ball choices, but English now competes against the strong-hitting Stephan Jaeger, while McCarthy faces the impressive Ryan Gerard, who has strong local support, so I’ve opted to avoid them.
The case for BUD CAULEY was partly due to David Puig’s poor approach play and an injury. However, Michael Kim shares similar issues, making Cauley’s matchup appealing as he returns to his best form this spring.
Thus, we are relying heavily on Cauley with two-ball bets accepted by most bookmakers, and while I’m less keen to oppose Kim than Puig, Cauley at 2/1 seems promising.
Scottie Scheffler was my fourth two-ball pick, likely to win his three-ball, but I also respect Si Woo Kim, who has performed well in two Presidents Cup appearances. He even won a match against Scheffler last year, which makes me hesitant to counter him.
This has been an unusual and quite disappointing PGA Championship, with an intriguing detail emerging: neither of the top two betting favorites is in the current top four on the leaderboard.
Scottie Scheffler, now tied for fifth and three strokes behind Jhonattan Vegas, is favored by many, with some believing his biggest competition lies behind him rather than ahead. Bryson DeChambeau, positioned two strokes back in 17th, has also attracted attention.
Since the start of the tournament, I’ve felt DeChambeau’s odds are surprisingly short. Of the two, my choice would be Scheffler, alongside Matthew Fitzpatrick and Si Woo Kim as viable betting options.
While Fitzpatrick is a major champion, Kim’s impressive ball-striking and experience against top American players at this course make him a formidable opponent.
As I focus on how the tournament might unfold, I’m also watching Vegas closely. His double-bogey on 18 didn’t cost him the lead, but with Kim shooting a remarkable 64, Vegas now finds himself just two strokes ahead in the top rest-of-world player market.
While I’m not overly optimistic, my goal is for him to perform well today to explore options heading into the final round and ideally finish strong in the standings.
