Rose lurks with intent going into weekend at US PGA

Thunder storms may have called an abrupt halt to proceedings midway through round two of the PGA Championship, but the prospects of a second major title are far brighter than Friday’s Wisconsin weather for Justin Rose.

England’s finest golfer was five-under-par through 17 holes of his round, one shot behind co-leaders Jason Day and Matt Jones, when officials called players off the Whistling Straits course.

The Australians are -9 overall, both five-under for their rounds as well, however the countryman will resume with four and six holes left respectively in which to improve their scores by the midway point.

All this means Day is the new 5/2 favourite to follow up his Canadian Open victory by finally breaking his majors duck, while Rose is now a 5/1 shot to double up on his collection.

Although the picture is slightly skewed by the fact a number of players still have holes remaining (up to seven at most) in order to complete round two when play begins early on Saturday, the majority of players were in the clubhouse.

One of those safely home by the time the skies unleashed their fury was 2015’s headline act Jordan Spieth.

The Masters and US Open champion carded a 67, containing six birdies and one bogey, propelling him up the leaderboard to a share of seventh when play was stopped.

It was the kind of brave performance with the putter that we’ve been accustomed to seeing from the steely-nerved American this season and Spieth now separates Day and Rose in the betting at 4/1.

Things didn’t go quite as swimmingly for one of Spieth’s playing partners though. Rory McIlory may have chipped in for an eagle on the second, but he simply couldn’t get his flat stick to sing.

A bogey at the seventh gave a shot back and a dog’s dinner on the 18th led to a double bogey, meaning McIlroy stays on -1 for the tournament and priced at 25/1 for an unlikely win from this far back.

Pace setter Dustin Johnson was one-over par for his round meanwhile and -5 overall through 14 holes.

Although DJ is still very much in the mix, especially if he finishes his second round well, his odds have ballooned to 14/1 overnight.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.

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