PGA DFS: Round 2 PGA Championship DraftKings Picks for Friday, 5/20

The 104th PGA Championship is underway, and one of the games best, Rory McIlroy put on a fantastic display of golf. A couple of late slip-ups coming down the stretch before a finishing birdie, and it would have him post a 65. Even with a couple of late slip-ups, he did everything well in round one and continued the momentum gained from his final round at The Masters just over a month ago. The afternoon wave would have something to shoot at but would not get all that close. As we head into round two, the PGA DFS action has just started as showdown contests take center stage. This article will cover a few statistics from round one of the PGA Championship and a few PGA DFS picks and predictions for round two.

PGA DFS Golf Picks Today: PGA Championship Round 2

Round 1 Recap

Morning Wave

While Rory’s play in the last two rounds of a Major Championship has been incredible, Will Zalatoris has played well himself. With four top-10s in his first six majors, he is the first golfer to do that since Ernie Els. Zalatoris put together another solid round one, only missing one short putt on the day, and with that, finished the day with a 66, one back of Rory. Tom Hoge had a chance to tie Rory but couldn’t birdie any of his last three holes and finished with a four-under 66.

A few other big names are just a couple back of the trio at the top, including Abraham Ancer, Matt Kuchar, Cameron Smith and Xander Schauffele who continues his strong play from last week’s AT&T Byron Nelson. Other notables from the morning wave that shot under par include Mito Pereira, Chris Kirk, Davis Riley, Tony Finau and Thomas Pieters.

Afternoon Wave

As expected, conditions toughened for the afternoon wave, as only three golfers from the entire wave got to -3 or better. One of them was one of the stars of the tournament, Justin Thomas, who played brilliantly under challenging conditions and birdied the last hole to shoot 67 in round one. From the afternoon wave, there were only ten scores under par, compared to 18 from the morning wave. The surprise round came from Lucas Herbert, who birdied three of his first five holes and had a total of seven on the day, shooting the best score of the wave, with a four-under 66.

Other quality rounds, or round under par from this wave, included Joaquin Niemann and Matt Fitzpatrick, both of whom came into the week playing solid golf. Webb Simpson also looked healthy in round one, for one of the first times all year. Because of that, his ownership for the week-long slate is below 3% for the first time in quite some time, and at this point, looks to be a solid against the grain play. A few last notes, K.H. Lee, continues his fine form after the win last week, shooting 69 in round 1, as did hometown favorite Talor Gooch.

The PGA Championship Round 1 Stat Recap

Strokes Gained Off the Tee

Dean Burmester
Corey Conners
Rory McIlroy
Ryan Brehm
Jon Rahm

Strokes Gained Approach

Cameron Smith
Si Woo Kim
Tom Hoge
Abraham Ancer
Matthew Fitzpatrick

Strokes Gained Around the Green

Harold Varner III
Matt Kuchar
Ryan Vermeer
Rickie Fowler
Y.E. Yang

Strokes Gained Putting

Will Zalatoris
Brendan Steele
Rory McIlroy
Gary Woodland
Justin Thomas

Latest PGA DFS Content

Best PGA DFS Picks Today for Round 2 PGA Championship Showdown

Lock Time: 8:00 a.m. ET
Grand Prize: DraftKings offers $100,000 to first place and $300,000 guaranteed for the second-round slate

Xander Schauffele ($8,600)

One of the most obvious plays of the slate, Xander is primed for a run at his first Major. Continuing the momentum from last week’s stellar finish at the AT&T Bryon Nelson, Xander got off to a great start in round one, gaining strokes thru the board. In fact, he was one of only four golfers on the day to gain at least a third of a stroke in all four categories and is the only golfer in the field to gain at least a half a stroke in all four statistical attributes. There’s no reason to fade him here, especially given he’s in the better wave tomorrow afternoon.

Abraham Ancer ($7,500)

For a golfer with Ancer’s talent, all it takes is one round to get him going again. He used the firm fairways to gain a little bit of distance off the tee he doesn’t typically have and also finally woke his iron game up. He came in with his lowest ownership of the year and, because of that, gets a bump down for the second round showdown slate, something we gamers should take advantage of for the second round.

Thomas Pieters ($6,800)

We’ve seen a streak of good golf from the uber-talented Belgian, as he is parlaying his top-10 last week at the Soudal Open into a solid start here at Southern Hills. His birdie streak in the middle of the round brought him from +2 to -1 and back in the thick of it. He has yet to be a story at a Major since he held the first-round lead at Augusta a few years back but is in position this week.

Other Low Owned Targets for PGA DFS Round 2 of the PGA Championship

Lanto Griffin ($6,400)
Kramer Hickock ($6,300)
Ryan Fox ($6,400)

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Author

Jason Rouslin

Jason established his roots in the littlest state that could...Rhode Island. But after 29 years of bitter cold, and only being able to play golf 4 months a year, upended those roots and moved to Florida. Now four years later, Jason is a husband to Sarah and father of two boys, James & Myles. A dog and more specifically Lab lover (Bella), he dedicates his time to serve as the lead of PGA content at Awesemo.com. In the time he is not diving into the PGA stats and covering this week's current tournament, you can find him researching and trading stocks, on the golf course, at Disney World, on a hike, or somewhere in between. Want to chat? Have a question about Golf/Stocks or anything else? Hop on twitter and give him a message @dfsgolfer23. You can also contact Jason by emailing [email protected].