PGA DFS: Showdown Spotlight Picks for DraftKings and FanDuel | Round 3 of The PGA Championship

Putting stock into the majors this year, DraftKings is keeping our interest with another $50,000 to first offering for the third round PGA DFS Slate. It’s been a thrilling two days, one that saw the leaderboard almost flip entirely on day two, as the golfers that had the better scores from yesterday’s opening round came out and really struggled in the afternoon winds. So, the scoring average was a bit higher, 75.5, the afternoon wave was way worse, bringing the cut all the way down to +5! A couple of huge names were sitting on that number, including Patrick Reed & Webb Simpson, who continues his major cut streak, now making the last 16 in a row. Incredible. 80 other golfers will join Reed & Simpson in playing the weekend here at Kiawah Island, one of the best courses in the world.

Be sure to check out the Round 3 PGA Championship Awesemo’s expert PGA DFS Showdown projections and ownership.

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Round 3 DraftKings Showdown PGA DFS Picks for the PGA Championship

Previous Round Recap

Morning Wave

Those of you that follow me, well, you probably felt great about your lineups as Branden Grace was bogey-free stepping onto the 17th hole, and Gary Woodland had just come off of a birdie streak. Still, a combined four over on the last three holes played for the two of them curtailed some really decent rounds. Add in the nice cherry on top with Corey Conners totally tanking down the board, and things were looking up. But, Phil Mickelson’s late birdies made him a must-own for the morning wave.

But the stars of the wave, Jordan Spieth and more struggled to get anything going, so the returns were dampened further. Just 21 scores of under par were shot today, and to my surprise, split about evenly among the two waves. Jon Rahm was another star that had it going early, getting it to -2 on the day through seven holes, but a water ball on 17 sent him through a hissy fit and finished the day at three over. A couple of other notables from the morning wave included Daniel Berger, who made the biggest move of the day, going from +7 79 on day one to a bounce-back 69 on day two and a chance to move up over the weekend.

Afternoon Wave

From the second the afternoon golfers arrived on the practice tee, they knew they were in for the battle. Smooth swinging Louis Oosthuizen rode a hot putter yet again, but it’s tough to say hot putter when he’s been doing it all year; it’s more he’s just a great putter in general. He also gained over a stroke in the other three facets of his game as well and is in a position to capture his second major championship. Brooks Koepka also flashed to form, riding two eagles on the day while gaining just shy of five strokes ball striking, certainly a scary sight for those that fear “Major Brooks”.

Charley Hoffman also continued his fantastic play this year, with a two-under 70 in round two. But, both of those rounds from Hoffman & Koepka pale in comparison to our Masters’ Champion Hideki Matsuyama, who weathered the conditions and jolted up the leaderboard with a four-under 68. He sits just two back of winning his second straight major.

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Round 3 Stat Recap

Those who have been following my Showdown articles know I like to target golfers that are gaining strokes in all facets of their game; if one part goes south, they have others to fall back on. In Round 2, the following gained strokes in all four facets:

Louis Oosthuizen
Hideki Matsuyama
Phil Mickelson (x2)
Daniel Berger
Christiaan Bezuidenhout
Charley Hoffman
Ian Poulter
Daniel Van Tonder
Russell Henley
Branden Grace (x2)
Matthew Fitzpatrick
Shane Lowry
Jason Kokrak
Matt Wallace

PGA DFS Showdown Picks: Slate Preview

Lock Time

First Tee time which is estimated at 8:00 am.

Fantasy Golf Contest Preview

DraftKings

DraftKings is offering $50,000 to first place and $200,000 guaranteed for the third-round slate.

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The PGA Championship PGA DFS Picks

Well, the worst of the winds is behind us, as Saturday looks to be relatively mild all day. That should allow for the golfers from behind to make a run tomorrow, especially if some unexpected winds pop up in the afternoon. If not, though, I think we could see a seven-under out there which would put just about anybody shooting it that made the cut back in the tournament. The worst they’d be is -2, that’s if someone who is +5 shoots it.

PGA DFS Picks for Round 2 of PGA Championship

Rory McIlroy ($9,600) If we are looking for someone to make a massive move on Saturday and probably fall back on Sunday, Rory is the guy. Having shown that upside form for most of the day today, getting all the way back to under par for the event, the final two holes absolutely crushed him, sending him back to +3. But, looking on the bright side, that’ll send him off on the earlier side tomorrow morning and give that his ball-striking looks to be in stellar form. The putter just needs to wake up on Saturday, and he can get right back in this tournament.
Hideki Matsuyama ($8,400) Disappearing for almost a month after his maiden major championship victory, Hideki has himself in a position to win two straight! Woudln’t that be a story. He’s gone on these types of runs in his career before, and now that he’s got one under his belt, the pressure of “needing” to win is off and should allow him to play a little more freely. His putting is what is intriguing me here, gaining over a stroke in round two. I’m betting that that’ll carry over into round three, and even if it doesn’t, his ball-striking is absolutely stellar right now and should negate a weak putting performance.
Patrick Cantlay ($7,800) All it took was an extremely difficult golf course and major conditions to get Cantlay back to the weekend. His game has been incredibly volatile over the past few days, with two holes out eagles, birdies in bunches, and a lot of bogeys and doubles. Take his round today, for example. He played holes 18-4 at five over before playing his next five at three under. That’s after starting his round with two birdies too! Well, all this leads up to a lower-priced, aggressive Cantlay that’s ideal for showdown slates.

Sneaky Pick for the Round 2 Showdown

Harry Higgs ($6,500) Out of form for much of this season, it only takes one week for Higgs to get his standing back on tour, and why not this one. Higgs was having a good day, one over through 16 holes coming to the two most difficult holes on the course as his finishing two. Anything could happen on them. In fact, we saw Cameron Tringale play them at five over, so even Higgs making the cut wasn’t a guarantee. But he stepped up and dropped two 40 foot + bombs for birdie and has himself in a tie for 12th heading into Saturday. A couple of more good rounds over the weekend and the last month and a half of bad form can be erased.

DraftKings and FanDuel Fill-Ins for the PGA Championship

Viktor Hovland ($10,000)
Louis Oosthuizen ($7,600)
Richy Werenski ($6,8000)

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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].