BMW Championship 2023 day 2 betting tips and predictions

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If Thursday at the BMW Championship hosted by Olympia Fields Country Club foreshadows what is to come throughout the rest of the event, Sunday should provide a tight battle at the top.

2023 Open champion Brian Harman and world No. 2 Rory McIlroy share the lead at 5-under par after posting rounds of 65. A pack of six players sits a stroke behind at 4-under, including top-ranked Scottie Scheffler, U.S. Open winner Wyndham Clark, Rickie Fowler, Chris Kirk, Matt Fitzpatrick and Sahith Theegala.

There will be two day two betting predictions provided in this piece for head-to-head matchups in the second round.

BMW Championship day 2 tips: Head-to-head matchups

The following picks are for round two only.

Collin Morikawa over Jason Day @ 25/34 (-136)

Collin Morikawa hasn’t had a great season in regard to his high expectations of being a two-time major winner. The Cal product hasn’t won since the 2021 Open Championship but has endured some bright spots with two second-place finishes, including a playoff loss to Rickie Fowler at the Rocket Mortgage Classic in June.

The 26-year-old appears to have rounded into form after his performance in Detroit (Rocket Mortgage Classic) followed by last week’s tie for 13th at the FedEx St. Judge Championship.

He’s appealing over Jason Day in round two, thanks to his course fit at Olympia Fields Country Club. The course plays very similar to U.S. Open tracks and Muirfield Village, where the Memorial is played.

Morikawa played excellently at both events. He, unfortunately, had to withdraw before the final round at the Memorial due to back spasms but was two strokes back of first place and in a tie for ninth. At the event, he led the field in strokes, gained approach to green (5.8) before being forced to bow out. His first three rounds were 71, 73 and 68.

At the U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club, Morikawa ended in a tie for 14th, recording rounds of 71, 69, 69 and 69.

Jason Day doesn’t fit these types of tracks very well and missed the cut at both events with rounds of 76 and 72 at Muirfield, followed by 73 and 76 at LACC.

The 5-time winner on the PGA Tour, Morikawa, has been a specialist during second rounds this season and is averaging 0.57 strokes better than Day.

Second-round scoring averages

• Morikawa: 69.1 (Ranked 9th)
• Day: 69.67 (Ranked 33rd)

Morikawa has also performed better than the Australian in the past five second rounds, where both participated in the same tournament. The Los Angeles native owns a 3-2 record in the category and has four strokes less over that span.

Round 2 scores: Past five shared events

Tournament	Morikawa’s rd 2 score	Day’s rd 2 score
FedEx St. Jude Championship	70	72
The Open Championship	73	67
Travelers Championship	63	64
U.S. Open	69	76
The Memorial	73	72

With Morikawa being a better course fit and playing better in second rounds, the 25/34 (-136) odds provided by Unibet are a fair price in favor of the American.

Tyrrell Hatton over Corey Conners @ 100/129 (-129)

Hatton, like Morikawa, excels in second rounds and is ranked even higher. The Englishman is averaging 1.3 strokes better than Conners on Fridays this season.

Second-round scoring averages

• Hatton: 68.94 (Ranked 7th)
• Conners: 70.24 (Ranked 68th)

The High Wycombe, England native is also a course fit at Olympia Fields. He performed well at the Memorial, earning a tie for 12th with rounds of 71, 71, 73 and 72. At the U.S. Open, he finished T27. After a rough 74 to start the tournament, he bounced back with scores of 67, 69 and 72 the next three days.

Conners struggled at both of these events, missing the cut at the Memorial (rounds of 77 and 75) and also the U.S. Open (rounds of 70 and 74).

In their past five shared tournaments, Hatton has recorded a lower score in four of the events (80%) and has recorded 18 fewer strokes during the span.

Round 2 scores: Past five shared events

Tournament	Hatton’s rd 2 score	Conners’ rd 2 score
FedEx St. Jude Championship	67	72
The Open Championship	73	71
Genesis Scottish Open	62	65
U.S. Open	67	74
RBC Canadian Open	64	69

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