Waste Management Open: How to Bet the Second Round

The first round of the Waste Management Open didn't disappoint.

We have the big names near the top of the leaderboard with Rickie Fowler and Jon Rahm inside the top 10. We also got a glimpse of how dangerous the closing stretch can be when Justin Thomas gave back three shots on No. 16 and No. 17, while Ollie Schniederjans managed to put an eagle putt into the water on the driveable par-4 17.

Heading into Friday, Fowler moved into the top spot on the betting board at +550 after a round of 5-under 66 to tie for second. He's followed by Rahm, who shot 4-under, at +700. Bill Haas has a two-shot lead heading into day two after a round of 64, and he is coming in at 12-1.

Fowler has our futures bets in a good spot early, but if you want something to add after the opening 18, I'd lean toward Gary Woodland at 25-1. Woodland hasn't won in quite a while, but he's been close on numerous occasions and got off to a good start at 4-under.

Matchups

I like Woodland in his 3-ball matchup over Kevin Chappell and Ryan Moore at +140. Woodland was the only one of the trio to gain strokes from tee to green in the opening round. If Chappell and Moore are both off with their ball striking again on Friday, Woodland could take this group comfortably.

I also like Shane Lowry over Brendan Steele and KJ Choi at +140. This is more of regression play on Steele than a full backing of Lowry. Steele beat Lowry by two on Thursday, but he gained nearly five strokes over the Irishman with the putter. Steele simply isn't five shots better than Lowry with the flat stick, and I'd look for that number to even out a bit. Choi didn't really factor into the pairing on Thursday and lost strokes to the field in all tee to green areas, so I'd be surprised if he factored into the bet on Friday.