This is a quick-hitter column with the key stats needed to make informed PGA DFS picks in your DraftKings and FanDuel daily fantasy golf lineups. In this space, I’ll give you a few recommendations for the second round of The Masters. In typical Showdown GPPs, DraftKings offers upwards of $50,000 to first place for second-and third-round tournaments, and sometimes even up to $100,000 for the final round. They also provide weekend-long contests that offer $25,000 to first place on average. FanDuel has even tried to get into the weekend-long and final-round contests, offering $10,000 and $5,000 to first place in their PGA DFS Showdown contests. Let’s take a look at PGA DFS picks for Round 2 of The Masters.
Round 2 PGA DFS Picks: The Masters
Previous Round Recap
A beautiful day in Augusta, Georgia was the setting for a great first round of action. Scoring was incredibly tough for most of the field, just not for Justin Rose. As part of the afternoon wave, he played one of the best 10-hole stretches possibly ever seen at Augusta National. That run included an eagle and seven birdies, racing out to a first-round lead by four strokes. The last time Rose played, he couldn’t even walk, let alone swing a club. It is no surprise that he garnered about 3% of the lineups. Rose did everything well today, hitting 13 of 18 greens, 11 of 14 fairways,= and had the lowest putts per hole (1.39). When Rose entered the course, the number that he was chasing was 3 under, shot by both Hideki Matsuyama and Brian Harman.
Outside of those three golfers, just nine others were able to break par on the day; that’s another testament to how well Rose played. He will turn around and go right back out there at 9:36 a.m. The closest competitors to Rose will watch and see if he can keep up the strong play, considering they won’t tee off until the afternoon.
Notables
It was a rough day for the world’s best out there in Round 1. Jon Rahm, the golfer with the least amount of time to prepare for this event, holds the best position in terms of the top five golfers in the world; he is tied with Xander Schauffele at even par. While some of the more surprising names at the top of the leaderboard include first-timer Will Zalatoris and short-game specialists Patrick Reed, Christian Bezuidenhout and Webb Simpson. All of those names are at 2 under, 5 back of Rose’s first-round lead.
Before moving to the Round 2 picks, let’s check in on some of the last groups, including Jordan Spieth and Cameron Smith, who both eagled the 15th hole to spark their round. Spieth, who had a remarkable chip-shot (destined for the water) hit the flag and go in the hole, used that prayer to propel him into the top 10 after an opening-round 71.
Quick Hitter Round 1 Stat Recap
Augusta does not release their strokes-gained information, so there are only some old-school statistics to look at. Let’s take a look:
Greens In Regulation
- Jordan Spieth
- Will Zalatoris, Kevin Kisner, Xander Schauffele (14 of 18)
- Brian Harman, Bubba Watson, Mackenzie Hughes, Webb Simpson, Tommy Fleetwood, Justin Rose, Si Woo Kim (13 of 18)
Driving Accuracy
- Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Henrik Stenson, Larry Mize (13 of 14)
- Abraham Ancer, Patrick Reed, Bubba Watson, Brendon Todd, Charl Schwartzel (12 of 14)
Birdie or Better Leaders
- Justin Rose (7)
- Cameron Champ, Shane Lowry, Viktor Hovland, Robert Macintyre, Tyrrell Hatton, Ian Poulter, Webb Simpson, Si Woo Kim (5)
PGA DFS Showdown Picks: Slate Preview
Lock Time
8:00 a.m. EST
Fantasy Golf Contest Preview
DraftKings
- DraftKings is offering $50,000 to first and $250,000 guaranteed for the second-round slate.
The Masters PGA DFS Picks
Rose was the only golfer to come from the afternoon draw and wind up in the top five. All of the others came from that morning wave, with the greens that were a lot more fresh. Try to stack most of the guys going out in the mid-morning and jump on those early results like there were today.
PGA DFS Picks for Round 2 of The Masters
- Jordan Spieth ($10,100) – Projected 34.6 Points: One can make the argument that Spieth is the most obvious play on this slate. His ball-striking looks to be some of the best in the field. Unfortunately, it was one awful decision on No.9 that cost him a triple-bogey today. If it were not for that gaffe, Spieth would be the closest competitor to Rose at this point. Spieth’s game is in tremendous form right now, and even with the win last week, he looks to be picking up where he left off.
- Xander Schauffele ($9,300) – Projected 34.98 Points: Schauffele’s form had really taken a hit as of late. However, his solid opening round offers enough intrigue to look that way. Schauffele performed just as well as Rahm, if not better, and he is cheaper than him for the second-round slate. Schauffele hit 14 of 18 greens, which is very encouraging given that it has been his irons that have been lacking lately. Using his price decrease, gamers should be able to pair up Schauffele with Spieth quite easily for the second round. Collin Morikawa looks good as well, but he just couldn’t make any putts in Round 1. Maybe they will fall for him in round two.
- Gary Woodland ($7,000) – Projected 33.35 Points: Woodland has been struggling mightily this year. He did have a top-10 finish last week and has nice carry-over form. He hit over 64% on both fairways and greens, making him one of only a handful of golfers to do that on the day. Woodland’s putting has looked better, while the driver is coming around to form as well. This could be a beneficial pivot off the expected Rose chalk. Or one could even pair Rose up with Woodland.
Sneaky PGA DFS Pick for Round 2
- Mackenzie Hughes ($6,500) – Projected 30.68 Points: Known as one of the best putters in the world, Hughes seems to be in good form. And that is carrying over from the WGC Match Play. Hughes hit 13 of 18 greens in Round 1 and 11 of 14 fairways. For a golfer with as good of a putting prowess as he has, that’s something to get behind.
DraftKings and FanDuel The Masters PGA DFS Fill-Ins
- Cameron Smith ($9,000)
- Justin Thomas ($10,300)
- Justin Rose ($7,000)
- Cameron Champ ($6,600)
- Hideki Matsuyama ($7,500)
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