Racing Post US PGA Championship second-round preview and free golf betting tips

Where to watch the US PGA Championship

Live on Sky Sports Golf, from 1pm

Best bets

Harold Varner to win 6.03pm threeball
2pts 6-4 general

Kurt Kitayama to win 6.20pm threeball
1pt 15-8 Betfair, Paddy Power

Ian Wilkerson's second-round preview

An early start was required on Friday morning for those yet to finish their first round at the US PGA Championship, but there were prices available for second-round threeballs and there are a couple of decent bets to be had in the evening programme.

LIV rebel Harold Varner has not posted a top-20 finish in 13 Major attempts but an opening spin of even-par should give him plenty of encouragement.

No player performed better in the opening round than he did around the greens at Oak Hill, but his tee-to-green game was nothing to sniff at either and the foundations look to be there for a decent week.

Winning his threeball again should be within his compass as a minimum achievement and he should, once again, get the better of Scott Stallings and Nicolai Hojgaard when they start at 6.03pm UK and Ireland time.

Stalling must have thought it was going to be his week after he holed out from 128 yards on his opening hole - the par-four tenth - but things turned sour and it could take him a while to get over bogeys in four of his final five holes.

Hojgaard, meanwhile, will also have had plenty to think about overnight after he carded a 76, which included a triple-bogey seven at the seventh in the closing stages of his Thursday effort.

Kurt Kitayama will be another player who will be content with his opening effort and he can get the better of Sahith Theegala and Zach Johnson when they tee off 17 minutes later.

Kitayama has endured some poor form since winning the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March, but it all came together on Thursday with his best tee-to-green effort for a while.

His confidence could have done with a boost so further improvement could be on the cards.

Theegala was right up among the leaders before the wheels came off in the second half of his opening round and it may take time for the US PGA debutant to get over bogeying five of the closing seven holes, while veteran Johnson has been done no favours by the course chances at Oak Hill, which make the examination less fiddly. He may lack the distance to keep up.