Will Gordon came through with the low round that I wrote so eloquently (if I may grade my own paper) about last week. He's a player who has a ton of talent and has shown us time and again that he has the ability to go really deep when everything in his bag is working. Gordon did just that in Mexico on Thursday as he opened with a 9-under round of 62 to take a one-shot lead over Russell Henley into Round 2.
Those two players are separated from the rest of the field as others begin to bunch up at 7-under. There are 18 players between the lead and 6-under after the first round, showing just available low scores are on this course.
I expected the overall scoring average to be better than -1.79, but some really ugly scores at the bottom are holding that down.
It just shows that this course isn't completely devoid of trouble, but players who are hitting it well will have every opportunity to post a low round. I'll be looking to see if we can find some of those low numbers and some betting value over the next couple days.
Best Bets
Lee Hodges +10000 (BetMGM)
Hodges is a guy I wanted to get to before the start of the week and he just missed my card. I'll add him now after he came back from a couple of weeks off with similar form to what he showed to start the new season.
He's a player I want in tournaments that are going to reward wedge play and won't penalize players too much for being short off the tee. And that is exactly what we have this week.
Hodges started in good form with a 4-under opening round and now he gets to roll it into a morning tee time on Friday with a chance to position himself for the weekend. He's posted low rounds of 62, 63 and multiple 64s over the past year and another one of those on Friday will put us in the mix at triple-digit odds heading into Saturday.
Sam Ryder +2200 Leader after Round 2 (DraftKings)
It's the fall swing, let's have some fun. Ryder went out in the afternoon wave on Thursday and missed just two greens in regulation as he fired a 7-under to put himself just two shots short of the lead.
He and English will be the only two players at 7-under or better who get the advantage of the morning conditions on Friday. I like the stats and odds much better for Ryder going into the second round as English clearly had to get a lot done with his short game during the first round.
There will be plenty of players who pop up in contention for this market, but I'll throw my dart at Ryder to keep things rolling on Friday morning.
