There may not be a whole lot of drama on Sunday, as Scottie Scheffler holds a four-shot lead with just 18 holes to play. Scheffler’s 67 wasn’t the best score of the day on Saturday, as that belonged to Russell Henley. He moved into the top 10 with a 65, but he’s still eight shots behind Scheffler. The player in the closest striking distance is Haotong Li at 10-under. Matthew Fitzpatrick picked a bad time to shoot an even par 71, as he sits at 9-under. Even a couple shots better and his task on Sunday wouldn’t seem so daunting.
As always, our VSiN golf analysts had you covered with pre-tournament analysis, but we don’t stop there. We’ll be talking about the action on our live VSiN programming, and we’ll also have some daily notes from our top golf minds. So, keep reading for some second-round observations and third-round predictions.
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Matt Youmans
It’s not quite that Tiger Woods feeling yet, but you get that sense sometimes. It’s tough to envision Scheffler, who’s headed for all-time greatness, blowing a big lead on Sunday in a major. In fact, he has won 10 consecutive times when holding a 54-hole lead, so his odds-on price of -700 at DraftKings is the right number.
We want to see a challenger step up and take on the champ. I hoped to see Matt Fitzpatrick (40-1 pre-tournament), Tyrrell Hatton (30-1) or Robert MacIntyre (36-1) make a hard charge at Scheffler, but it didn’t materialize. Fitzpatrick briefly pulled into a tie for the lead and squandered his opportunity by missing two short par putts.
I did bet Scheffler (+600 and top 5 +135) on Wednesday as an insurance policy. While we all like to take futures shots at longer odds — and I did that with Fitzpatrick, Hatton, MacIntyre, Shane Lowry and Justin Rose — you know there’s a shot Scheffler could blow away the field and blow up those longshot plays. Betting the placement markets is a must, which I did with Scheffler, Hatton (top 10 +310), Jon Rahm (top 10 +115), Lowry (top 10 +375), MacIntyre (top 20 +185) and Fitzpatrick (top 20 +160). The results for this tournament should be very good, unlike the ugly U.S. Open last month.
Longtime caddie and media commentator Jim “Bones” Mackay said of Scheffler, “I never thought in my lifetime I’d see a player as close to Tiger as this man currently is.”
Tiger is done contending in majors and will finish with 15 career wins, second to Jack Nicklaus with 18. When his career is over, Scheffler could be in that company. He turned 29 in June and seems headed for his first British Open win and major No. 4 on Sunday in Northern Ireland. If an oddsmaker set the Over/Under for Scheffler’s career wins at 9.5, I would bet the Over without hesitation.
Scheffler did not get off to a great start Saturday, carding six straight pars and sinking into a tie with Fitzpatrick. But he eagled the seventh hole, birdied the eighth and his price in the live betting markets shot sky high. At 14 under, Scheffler leads Hoatong Li by four strokes, Fitzpatrick by five and a group of four players (Rory McIlroy, Hatton, Harris English and Chris Gotterup) by six. Li, who has bogeyed only two holes through three rounds, is quietly hanging around.
I’m not going to recommend a play on Rory (20-1), Li (25-1), Fitzpatrick (28-1) or anyone else. There might be a chance to bet something live if Scottie unexpectedly slips up. I will look to play a matchup on Lowry, a former British winner who has had a disappointing week. The grumpy old Irishman won’t quit and will be playing for pride Sunday.
