PGA DFS Picks: Showdown Spotlight Round 2 of the Shriners Open

This column is a quick-hitter article to give you the stats you need to make informed PGA DFS picks for your DraftKings + FanDuel daily fantasy lineups and give you a couple of recommendations for the second round of the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. On a typical Showdown contest, DraftKings will offer upwards of $50,000 to first for rounds 2 and 3 showdown and sometimes up to $100,000 for the final-round contests. They also provide weekend-long contests that have been offering $25,000 to first for most weekends. Lastly, FanDuel has also tried to get into the weekend-long and final-round contests, offering $10,000 and $5,000 to first.

Previous Round Recap

Morning Wave

If you subscribe to PGA Tour Live, you got your money’s worth watching Bryson DeChambeau make a 62 look like a walk in the park. The other five ended up between 2 and 3 under, around the average score today. Austin Cook and Harold Varner III were superb throughout the bag, each gaining at least a stroke off the tee as well. Brian Stuard also bounced back to form with a bogey-free 64. The same went for Emiliano Grillo, who is continuing his good run of form. Andrew Landry and the last man in the field, Rob Oppenheim, also came in at 7 under.

Afternoon Wave

Patrick Cantlay started the afternoon with a bang, almost holing out his approach shot on the first hole. It was a sign of things to come, as he went around TPC Summerlin in a nine-birdie, one-bogey effort, continuing his insane run of form here. Speaking of good form, Nate Lashley had a nice carryover from his good Sunday last week, matching Cantlay’s 8 under. Scott Harrington was the surprise name of the afternoon wave, shooting 8 under at well.

Stat Review

Birdie or Better Leaders Through Round 1

Bryson DeChambeau, Harold Varner, Patrick Cantlay, Rob Oppenheim (9)
Scott Harrington, Nate Lashley, Martin Laird, Lanto Griffin (8)

Strokes Gained Ball-Striking vs. Putting

Xinjun Zhang has been hot with his ball striking recently and showed it again in round 1, gaining almost four strokes. But his putter was equally as bad, losing almost the same amount for a 7.76 stroke difference in round 1. Byeong Hun An is still terrible with his putter, losing almost four strokes with the flat stick again today while gaining almost 1.50 with his ball striking. Russell Knox, Dylan Frittelli and Will Gordon round out the top five in this category. Honorable mentions include Russell Henley, Andrew Landry, Peter Malnati, Camilo Villegas and Sergio Garcia, all gaining at least four more strokes with their ball striking than with their putter.

Click here to see all the stats from round 1

Slate Preview

Lock Time

9:35 a.m. EST

Contest Preview

DraftKings

DraftKings is offering $20,000 to first and $60,000 guaranteed for the second-round slate

FanDuel

General Strategy & PGA DFS Picks

Every single golfer in the top 10 after round 1 gained strokes on their approaches, while only eight did it off the tee and nine did it with their putter. So, as much as off the tee helps, it seemed irons/wedges proved to be an easier path to the top of the leaderboard in round 1.

Top 10

There isn’t a slate this week that I won’t recommend playing Cantlay and DeChambeau, so let’s just get that right out there.

James Hahn ($7,100)

After back-to-back top 10s to start the season, Hahn, who is working off a major medical exemption, seems to be in really good form. He gained throughout the bag today, including 2.47 with his ball striking and another 1.76 with his putting. Three straight top 10s should give him his status back on tour, something that should take the edge off.

Stud or Value Pick Outside the Top 10

Will Zalatoris ($7,800)

Starting to turn into a ball-striking machine, Zalatoris added another 2.32 to his tally today. His putting and around the green work, however, not so much; he lost another two today. That has got to flip soon, and when it does, he’ll be among the leading point scorers for the sale.

Sneaky Pick Outside the Top 10

Sepp Straka ($6,800)

Straka had tapered off a bit these past few weeks, but that means people won’t be tuned into him. He had a solid opening round with a 5-under 66, highlighted by gaining strokes almost everywhere and only slightly losing around the green by .01. His irons were good as was his putter, and with his length off the tee, it’s a good combination to have.

Lineup Fill-Ins

Emiliano Grillo ($6,800)

Sungjae Im( $8,900)

Luke List ($7,000)

Justin Suh ($6,500)

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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].