7-1; -0.72pts

No pre-tournament plays.

Pre-rd3 plays:

LAY 10pts liability unless stated

Scott Hend 8.4  (8.8)  [2pts]  7th
With a record that reads 1-for-8 when leading after 36 holes across the Tours, it is fairly easy to oppose Hend who has a one-shot lead at this stage of the event. He is only in this position due to a hot putter as his ball-striking has been poor - he ranks 118th in driving accuracy and 71st in greens in regulation - so his game does not appear to be particularly suited to the pressures of leading over the weekend.

Pre-rd4 plays:

LAY 10pts liability unless stated

Scott Hend 11.5  (15.5)  [8pts]  7th
Hend admitted after his round that he was "very fortunate to be where I am". He didn't impress while leading and now he is part of a six-way tie for the lead with the chasing pack also very closely bunched together, so I'm happy to oppose him again and top up to the maximum stakes
Andy Sullivan 18.5  (25)  [8pts]  9th
Sullivan is in 9th place but only two shots back. His form has been good heading into this week, but with 34 players within five shots of the lead, I think that this price is borne more of his reputation than the state of the lederboard
Thomas Pieters 20  (34)  18th
Pieters is another in 9th place, but warrants the higher odds than Sullivan given that his form has not been as good heading into this event and his driving and greens in regulation stats have been rather poor this week.
Matt Wallace 28  (32)  [3pts]  1st
And another player in 9th place. His play has been good this week - he ranks 1st in greens in regulation - but the effects of playing in the U.S. Open last week are more likely to catch up with a player the following weekend, so I don't see a strong finish from the Englishman.
Soren Kjeldsen 34  (44)  [5pts]  7th
The Dane is another player opposed in 9th place. Again, I feel that the odds are too low as they focus on the player being only two shots off the pace rather than there being a very large group of players closely packed around them on the leaderboard. He has played well this week, but his last top-5 finish in a strokeplay event was in 2016, so there are more likely challengers on the leaderboard.
Andres Romero 65  (90)  [5pts]  45th
Yes, it's another player in 9th place. He won this event 12 months ago on a different course, but he hasn't achieved a top-5 finish on the European since that win so I make it very unlikely that there will be a successful defence of this title this week.
Sergio Garcia 95  (120)  [3pts]  12th
Four shots back and in 21st position, it will take quite a round for Garcia to pass so many players tomorrow. He has been very good tee-to-green this week, but there has been no indication that he will even break 70 this week given his lack of success on the greens this week.