It is showdown time for The Valspar Championship. In case you are new to the format, typical Showdown GPPs on DraftKings offer 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 $15,000 to first place on average. Let’s take a look at PGA DFS picks for Round 2 of The Valspar Championship.
Be sure to check out the Round 2 Valspar Championship DraftKings PGA Showdown cheat sheet based on Awesemo’s expert PGA DFS Showdown projections and ownership.
Round 2 PGA DFS Picks: The Valspar Championship
Previous Round Recap
Morning Wave
It was a splendid Thursday of golf in Western Florida, particularly in the morning portion. Scores were noticeably a bit lower than what Copperhead usually produces; maybe the one-month time change has made the course a little easier. Emiliano Grillo got out to the lead first, but it did not hold long, as Keegan Bradley took the first-round lead for the second time in four tournaments. Yes, he went on to miss the cut the last time. Maybe he can best that this year.
Two-time defending champion Paul Casey shared his round with Jason Kokrak and Gary Woodland. Kokrak worked his way around Copperhead well again, shooting an opening-round 67. Casey ended the day right in the thick of it, finishing with a 68. Other notables inside the top 10 from this wave included Abraham Ancer, Sam Burns and Ryan Moore.Â
Afternoon Wave
The two biggest stars of the tournament were grouped together later in the day, and Justin Thomas got off to a blazing start, going eagle-birdie. Those would be the only two putts he made all day, as he finished the last 16 holes at 1 over and ended the day at -2. Dustin Johnson really never got it going and ended the day at even par.
Max Homa, on the other hand, got off to a completely opposite start (with a 31) on the front nine before closing with a birdie on 18 to shoot a 5-under 66. That score was good enough for a tie for second heading into Round 2. With Bradley going off in the afternoon, he’ll have a chance to set the pace heading into the weekend.
PGA DFS Showdown Picks: Slate Preview
Lock Time
6:55 a.m. ET
Fantasy Golf Contest Preview
DraftKings
- DraftKings is offering $25,000 to first and $100,000 guaranteed for the second-round slate.
The Valspar Championship PGA DFS Picks
Scores were noticeably worse in the afternoon, and there are a couple of reasons for that. Once the wind picked up ever so slightly, there started to be a change. Although, there was more that added to the troubles than the heat factor, and the greens wound up drying out. It got up to 93 degrees out there today, and that’s hot enough for anyone.
PGA DFS Picks for Round 2 of The Valspar Championship
- Viktor Hovland ($9,500): Over the break, Hovland stressed multiple times that he had worked on his short game. More specifically, it was the work around the green that needed it most. Well, it hasn’t really panned out, as he lost another 1.38 strokes. That was too bad considering Hovland couldn’t miss a fairway even if he tried today, and his irons were electric. On the day, he gained about 3.25 strokes with his ball striking. Bank on Hovland to not miss a green in the second round and jolt up the leaderboard.
- Sungjae Im ($9,300): Im’s irons have been heating up recently, and they continued to be strong again today. He also had a good day around the greens, getting to 5 under at one point. Although, like so many before him, he was snake-bitten with two bogeys inside of the pit, which moved him back to -3.
- Kevin Na ($7,600): Na must take a look at the Awesemo Ownership Projections page each week. When he’s under 5% projected owned, it seems like he takes it personally. While that does stretch the truth a bit, Na is playing well here again at Copperhead, a course that usually highlights his skills. He keeps the ball in play, gets really hot with his irons, and he is one of the best short game artists in the game. In addition, he gained strokes everywhere in Round 1 and will go out tomorrow afternoon looking for momentum heading into the weekend.
Sneaky PGA DFS Pick for Round 2
- Doc Redman ($6,900): The new rule for this year is to chase golfers trying to find their form and then not play them again until they get a top-20 or their stats improve. For Redman, it seems like they have. Of course, the 81 at The RBC Heritage might have been the pinnacle of bad form because he’s played very well since then. Redman gained strokes in all facets today, which is worth targeting for Round 2.
DraftKings and FanDuel Fill-Ins for Valspar Championship
- Justin Thomas ($10,500)
- Emiliano Grillo ($8,200)
- Patton Kizzire ($7,900)
- Wyndham Clark ($7,300)
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