Strangers in the fight

Las Vegas’s roulette wheels and one-armed bandits have nothing on this competition. Only half way round and the defending champion and top two favourites have already packed their bags - poor Charley Hoffman, the wind hardly came to make his day.

The top of the table is like going into your front room to find it full of strangers. Two of the top three have never led at the half-way stage before and Garrett Willis hasn’t been top 10 since 2002. So he goes and shoots 10 under in a round that included one bogey. Oh, and big John Daly sank a putt for eagle that looked from here to eternity.

All in a day’s crazy golf, I guess, but without the wind the courses were always going to be tame. So far it’s been a layers’ paradise, except that backers to take them on have been few and far between. It’s end of season and there’s a much bigger event soaking up the cash across the pond.

The weather forecasters got their bets wrong Friday, so I’m wary of their insistence there’ll be gusty winds for round three. Either way, this will undoubtedly continue to confound, and I will continue to lay modest amounts on some of the leaders like Willis and George McNeill, on the basis that anything can happen over the next two rounds and probably will.