CJ Cup: Wind shakes up leaderboard

After one round, the CJ Cup was headed toward a Justin Thomas runaway.

The elements changed that in the second round. The wind picked up, and the course played 2.5 strokes more difficult. Thomas is still the favorite at +300, but his three-shot lead turned into a two-shot deficit.

Luke List leads the way at 9-under and is next behind Thomas at +700. Scott Brown and Lucas Glover are a shot back and come in at 12-1 and +900, respectively.

The wind is forecast to remain in the 25-30 MPH range for the final two rounds, and that will lead to a lot of volatility on the leaderboard similar to what we saw last night.

If the winds stay up, Branden Grace at 22-1 is worth a hard look. He's not really the type of guy who's going to win a birdiefest like we saw in the opening round. But when the course gets tough, he's the type of guy who can grind out a round. Grace shot 5-under in the difficult conditions to move within four of the lead, and with a lot of weaker players near the top, he really only needs to track down three or four guys over the next two days.

Looking at the plays after two rounds, Charles Howell III is in the best shape tied for 10th. The top 10 ticket on him at 10-1 is in a solid place there.

Elsewhere, it wasn't a good second round. The two long shots, Brian Harman and Nick Taylor, are five back and tied for 15th place. We'll need one of them to get hot over the weekend and at least get into the top five to come out ahead this week.

Joshua has spent the last five years writing about sports and the last 10 years betting them, mostly on golf. He's one of approximately five people who will watch the PGA over the NFL in November. Follow him on Twitter @JoshuaPerry22

Photo: © Michael Madrid-USA TODAY Sports

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