Viktor Hovland took advantage of calmer morning conditions to shoot a sparkling 6-under 66, taking a two-shot lead heading into the weekend at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. He gained 2.8 shots on approach and combined that with a round-leading 5.2 strokes gained putting. Compared to his opening round performance, Rory McIlroy struggled on the greens, losing 2.1 strokes with the flat stick. He sits two shots back, tied for second place with Tyrrell Hatton and Talor Gooch. For Hovland, it feels mighty similar to last year’s event where he was 7-under through 36 holes, only to shoot 77-78 in tough weekend conditions, finishing in 49th place.
Saturday’s hardening course conditions combined with blustery winds could lead to some carnage during the third round. Winds are forecast to be steady throughout at 10-15 MPH with gusts approaching 25 MPH. As players like McIlroy have noted, the greens on Friday were already playing ultra-firm and very similar to normal Sunday conditions at Bay Hill.
Weather Forecast
Post-Round 2 Player Quotes
*Quotes courtesy of ASAP Sports Transcriptions
RORY MCILROY: Those are the sort of greens you expect to see late on a Sunday, not late on a Friday. They’ll be tricky. It’s still you just have to land it on your spots with the right spin and the right trajectory. So you just have to be so, so precise whenever the greens get like this. Just puts even more of a premium on hitting the ball in the fairway so that you can put some spin on the ball to control it into these greens. It’s going to be interesting to see where they go from here, but it’s going to be a good test over the weekend. I’m glad I got 18 holes in those conditions because the course definitely changed a lot from when I played it yesterday morning to this afternoon. I’ll be a little more prepared for it tomorrow. I think the course lends itself to guys who have grown up in conditions like Australia or like Europe where it gets firm and it gets tricky.
TYRRELL HATTON: I’m not particularly happy with how I hit the golf ball certainly the last few days. I think the score is pretty flattering. I’ve putted really good, which is why I’ve got the score that I have, but I know that I can’t keep hitting it that badly certainly with it going to be playing much tougher this weekend. I’ve always putted well around here. I don’t know what it is. I just seem to see the lines clearer than some of the other places that we go to.
TALOR GOOCH: I hit a bunch of fairways. As you all know, out here fairways are so crucial. You’re praying for par if you don’t hit fairways, and half the time when you do hit the fairways, you’re still praying for par. If you’re not hitting fairways, you don’t have any chance. I hit a fair amount today, which gave us a chance. I don’t know if they can get the greens any firmer or faster without it getting ridiculous. There would be a few players not too happy if that were the case. I was just saying the birdie fest weeks you can kind of fake it from tee to green, and then it becomes a putting contest. Here there’s no faking it in any shape or form of the word fake. I mean, the cream rises, and it’s going to expose you if you’re not on your A-game.
Current Betting Favorites
- Viktor Hovland +170
- Rory McIlroy +400
- Tyrrell Hatton +700
- Talor Gooch +850
- Billy Horschel +1000
- Best Current Outright Value: None. Too much cream at the top
Round 3 Betting Selections
*Betting lines accurate at the time of publication.
Talor Gooch (-150) Over Beau Hossler
Talor Gooch had the second-best round of the day on Friday, shooting a 4-under 68. He could have shot an even better number had he not missed a couple of short putts down the stretch. His ball-striking was superb as he gained 4.9 strokes on the field. Beau Hossler is one of the better putters on Tour. He showed that on Friday, gaining 2.6 strokes on the greens. His ball-striking, however, was horrendous. Gooch is a better overall third-round performer and has better results in windy conditions. With a clear 3.3 shot edge in the Strokes Gained Rating, I will lay the juice with Gooch.
Risk: 1.5 Units on DraftKings.
Round 3 DraftKings DFS Showdown Selections
*Tee Times can be found here.
Core Plays
- Rory McIlroy, $10,800
- Matthew Fitzpatrick, $9,000
- Thomas Pieters, $6,700
Top-Tier Plays
- Jon Rahm, $10,900
- Tyrrell Hatton, $9,200
- Scottie Scheffler, $9,600
Mid-Tier Plays
- Paul Casey, $8,900
- Talor Gooch, $8,200
- Jason Kokrak, $8,500
Value Plays
- Christiaan Bezuidenhout, $7,600
- Chris Kirk, $7,700
- Gary Woodland, $7,600
- Lee Westwood, $7,000
- Charles Howell III, $7,200
- Corey Conners, $7,800
- Tommy Fleetwood, $7,800
- Ian Poulter, $7,500
- Danny Willett, $6,800
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