Earlier this week, in my Bermuda Championship preview, I wrote about the “increasingly” windy conditions in the forecast for Friday’s second round — and how that key word could unlock the secret as to which players are on the better side of the draw.
Already, those who played in the afternoon wave of Thursday’s opening round either had slightly better weather or simply just played slightly better, as the scoring average was 69.88, which was .18 lower than those in the morning.
That’s obviously not a huge differential, but with those players turning around and playing in the morning wave Friday, there was some thought that they might continue getting the better end of this deal.
As it turns out, they will — but only slightly.
The forecast didn’t lie, as stiffening winds will indeed “increase” throughout the day, but it doesn’t look like enough to make a major difference on either end.
Here’s what the field is looking at for Friday:
- 7 a.m.: 17 mph (gusts to 23 mph)
- 10 a.m.: 17 mph (gusts to 22 mph)
- 1 p.m.: 20 mph (gusts to 25 mph)
- 4 p.m.: 21 mph (gusts to 27 mph)
When examining potential live outrights for this tournament, it’s going to be a little tougher than during other events – not because of the lack of star-power in the field, but the lack of statistics, as strokes gained data is not available for this one.
That doesn’t mean we can’t use what we have, of course.
Here are three live plays entering the second round:
Doc Redman (+1000)
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. Yeah, the Good Doctor was my favorite pre-tourney outright play this week, and yeah, his price (second on the board behind current leader Peter Malnati) is probably too low to chase, but he’s worth keeping an eye on.
On Thursday, he tied for the field lead with 16 greens in regulation, so he’s striking the ball at his usual high level. He’ll play in the afternoon, so if he moves to 15/1 before he tees off or 20/1 after a few pars, he then might be worth a play.
Wyndham Clark (+3300)
If we use what we know about distance being a major advantage in the professional game — hey, Bryson DeChambeau isn’t drinking six protein shakes a day because he loves the taste — then we should understand the potential that Clark owns this week and beyond. Nobody averaged more than his 314.5 yards off the tee in the first round, and he ranked 22nd in total putts, too. That’s a nice combination to have in the arsenal.
Patrick Rodgers (+6600)
On Wednesday’s episode of “The Gimme,” I mentioned that I believed Rodgers was undervalued in both the betting markets and DFS this week. I was even more surprised when I saw such low DFS ownership on him. And now I’m surprised once again at the fact that he shot a 3-under 68 with five birdies, tied Redman for the most GIR and remains a healthy 66/1 entering the second round. That’s a great number for a guy who simply isn’t getting enough respect.
