Some one used the support bracket stud hole (right above the thermocouple in the photo below) as their thermocouple hole too. If your nervous about drilling in the center of the manifold, you could concidere that location too
That was me.
The hole was stripped out anyway

.
It's a very strong section to drill into, not too worried about it cracking.



There is a fitting that screws into the manifold then the probe slides into the fitting, so the bracket doesn't wear on the probe and the fitting holds the bracket firmly to the manifold.
No trouble yet.