PGA DFS: The Northern Trust Round 2 Showdown Spotlight for DraftKings and FanDuel | 8/20

The Northern Trust is underway and daily fantasy golf Showdown contests take center stage as DraftKings is offering $25,000 to first place for tomorrow’s second-round slate. Be sure to check out Awesemo’s expert PGA DFS Showdown projections and ownership for The Northern Trust Round 2 daily fantasy golf slate.

PGA DFS Showdown Picks: The Northern Trust Round 2

Previous Round Recap

Morning Wave

The morning started off with much more wind than anticipated. Harold Varner III would get out to an early lead, touching seven-under at one point before dropping two strokes. He’d have the best score of the morning wave by two shots, as it looked like Liberty National would win the day. As the day went on, he’d be the only golfer from this wave to end up in the top nine golfers after Round 1. Patrick Cantlay looked on point for most of the day, as he and Viktor Hovland put together nice opening-round 68s.

Notables

Jordan Spieth, the newly signed athlete of FanDuel, would give his backers to shoot even-par or better on FanDuel’s big odds boost a chance. An eagle, birdie stretch on his back-nine would get him back to even par before bogeying the last from the middle of the fairway to shoot a 71. Collin Morikawa couldn’t deal with the New Jersey wind at all. He would go on to shoot a 74, so tomorrow is incredibly vital.

PM Wave

As the afternoon wave settled into their rounds, the wind died down a bit. That allowed scoring to be much better, with two superstars Jon Rahm and Justin Thomas, shooting the day’s best score at 63. Adam Scott would continue his good form with an opening-round 64. He leads the list of five names that shot 67 from the afternoon wave. Tony Finau, Cameron Tringale, Kevin Na, Mackenzie Hughes, and Robert Streb all had their ups and downs. The latter hasn’t had a Top-10 finish since his win last fall, but it was good enough to get him a spot in the field. In tournament like this, anything can happen.

Notables

Dustin Johnson is still the No.1-ranked player in the world. He struggled around the green today, losing over two strokes. He also had nothing going on with his ball-striking, gaining mildly off the tee and losing slightly on the approach. It’s too bad because he seemed to enjoy these greens gaining almost three strokes on the day. Harris English looked like he was going to be a factor again, but a couple of closing bogeys has him finishing the day at -2, six back of the lead.

Round 1 Stat Recap

A full day of play and a full set of statistics. If round one is any indication of what’s to come, both Rahm & Thomas looked superb both on the greens and with their ball striking.

Strokes Gained Tee to Green

1. Jon Rahm
2. Justin Thomas
3. Harry Higgs
4. Robert Streb
5. Doug Ghim
6. Garrick Higgo

Strokes Gained Off the Tee

1. Garrick Higgo
2. Viktor Hovland
3. Hudson Swafford
4. Troy Merritt
5. Aaron Wise

Strokes Gained on the Approach

1. Justin Thomas
2. Jon Rahm
3. Daniel Berger
4. Xander Schauffele
5. Bryson DeChambeau
6. Anirban Lahiri

Strokes Gained Around the Green

1. Harry Higgs
2. Brian Gay
3. Patrick Cantlay
4. Kieth Mitchell
5. Kevin Na

Strokes Gained Putting

1. Maverick McNealy
2. Mackenzie Hughes
3. Cameron Davis
4. Dustin Johnson
5. Harold Varner III

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PGA DFS Showdown Picks: Slate Preview

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• DraftKings is offering $25,000 to first place and $100,000 guaranteed for the second-round slate.

The Northern Trust Round 2 PGA DFS Picks

With Rahm and Thomas playing exceptionally well, it’ll be tough to decide which to fade, if either of them. They do have a quick turnaround, which can be good if they’re totally engaged. However, one of them has a ridiculously low salary and is almost unfadeable in a one-lineup setting. Also, there doesn’t look to be nearly as much wind in the forecast, with no wave getting an advantage either.

• Bryson DeChambeau ($9,300)  It was a tough day on and around the greens for Bryson, who continues to strike the ball solidly. He gained over three strokes on ball-striking but lost more than that with his short game. With a day to adjust for greens speeds, it’s a good bet on the short game to flip to positive tomorrow morning.
• Justin Thomas ($8,900) He may be an obvious play, but some will decide to fade Thomas. His price is silly, and I have no idea what algorithm is used for Showdown contests, but it seems broken with this price. The bold can fade, but it’s pretty much must-own territory for JT in Round 2.
• Tony Finau ($7,900): One thing that has been keeping Finau afloat through his putting struggles has been his around-the-green work. That continued today, gaining over a stroke, and today, the putts fell. He gained over two strokes with the putter. Now he just needs to get himself a couple of more birdie looks with a better off the tee game in round two.

Sneaky Pick for the Wyndham Championship Round 2 Showdown

• Aaron Wise ($6,800) A picture can tell a thousand words, and the one snapped in the pic below is telling it. A switch to the long putter has brought some beginners luck, gaining almost two strokes with the putter in round one. No surprise to see him in the top 15 after gaining over a stroke with his putter, as the rest of his game has always been good. If the putter can remain hot, and he can fix up his irons a bit, Wise could make get into the fray for a big finish this week.

Aaron Wise on the putting green with the ⚓️ #TheNorthernTrust pic.twitter.com/KWVbhxfrLD

— Reid Fowler (@reidtfowler) August 18, 2021

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