Early tee times bode well for Spanish duo at PGA Championship

Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano and Miguel Angel Jimenez look two of the better bets to remain in contention by the end of the second round of the PGA Championship.

However, the Spanish duo are still big prices to claim a first major victory, with Fernandez-Castano 50/1 to win at Kiawah Island and Jimenez a larger 80/1.

The main thing in their favour is they have morning tee times for the second round, with conditions deemed advantageous for those with an earlier start.

This was also true in the first round, where those out early profited from relatively calm conditions to post good scores.

Carl Pettersson is bidding to become Sweden’s first major winner and he tops the leaderboard six-under after shooting a 66.

Tiger Woods is only three behind and is another that kept himself in contention in favourable conditions.

The result is that Woods has shortened to 6/1 in the golf odds to win the final major of the year, with Pettersson 20/1.

Conditions became more blustery as the day wore on and this is testament to how well the two Spaniards played later in the day to position themselves in the top 14.

Fernandez-Castano is one behind and Jimenez, who is regularly there are thereabouts in majors, joined Woods and numerous others on three-under.

The weather forecast for day two is much the same as the opening day, although there are suggestions of storms in the afternoon and possible winds gusting at over 30 miles per hour.

It will obviously be far harder to shoot low when the wind is up and if a batch of early players can end 36 holes around the eight-under mark, the pressure will build on those in the afternoon to potentially employ a riskier strategy to remain in close contention.

Jimenez has finished in the top ten in eight majors in the past, including last month’s Open Championship and maybe more so than his compatriot, has the experience to maintain a challenge for four rounds.

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