PGA DFS: Showdown Spotlight Round 2 of the Houston 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 Houston 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.

Houston Open Round 2 DraftKings Showdown NFL DFS Picks

Previous Round Recap

Morning Wave

Taking almost everyone by surprise, Memorial Park Municipal course played very difficult, with the average score coming in close to three over 73! Granted, that’s as a Par 70, a far cry from the under 70 I had predicted at the beginning of the week — a couple of reasons, green speeds & and green complexes. Most of the greens here this week after the redesign feature a ton of run-off areas, and with some carefully crafted pin positions in Round 1, there were some absolute blow-ups around the green in Round 1. Much more than predicted. Take a look at Will Gordon’s and Sam Ryders’ shot chart if you want to see first hand.

The morning started with the Jordan Spieth Show, as he burst out to a 3-under 32 on the front nine and had a share of the lead with Scottie Scheffler. Scheffler was able to get to four under and only dropped one coming in to post one of a few 67s from the morning wave. On the other hand, Spieth continued to be must-see television, playing 12-17 at 6-over par and finished the day at three over. Ouch.

Others from the morning wave finding a bit of form included one of my big misses last week, Harold Varner III. He hit the ball great and finally found his putter on the last seven holes, making four birdies and finished the day at -3. At least from my standpoint, the big surprise of the morning wave was the re-emergence of Michael Thompson, who disappeared after his win at the 3M a couple of months ago. Carlos Ortiz and Cameron Davis were the other two to post 67 from the morning wave.

Afternoon Wave: 

A couple of weeks off, maybe even a month, for Brandt Senedker must have done him very well, as he was able to gain through his bag in round one. We haven’t seen him gain strokes on the approach since the U.S. Open, although he did gain off the tee at the Shriners, maybe a sign of things to come? At least it looked that way in round 1. Another surprise, popping into form, and hoping he can play 72 holes, is Jason Day. One of only two golfers from the afternoon wave to finish in the top 8 after round one, even though there are few golfers still out on the course that will finish in the morning.

Even though Matt Jones played in the morning wave, I wanted to bring him up here, as course conditions certainly seem to be favoring a specific country right now… Jones is part of five Australians in the top 10 after round one, including Davis, Day, Jones, Adam Scott & Greg Chalmers. With such an emphasis

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General Strategy and Houston Open PGA DFS Picks

With the course playing abnormally hard, short game and putting are definitely more in focus. Although quality ball-striking can prevail, we still want someone that has the skills to save themselves around these tough green complexes.

Top 10

Harold Varner ($7,800)

There was a reason I played him last week, as I really thought Harold’s game was trending in the right direction. Strong wind and two early big scores derailed the tournament last week, but the great thing about the PGA Tour, there’s always next week. Harold is taking advantage of that fact through the first round gaining through the bag. I also like Sepp Straka and Sam Burns quite a bit heading into Round 2.

Stud or Value Pick Outside the Top 10

Viktor Hovland ($9,300) 

I’m pushing the press button here as Hovland had it all the way to 3-under par before a silly double and another bogey coming in to post 70. I liked what I saw, and that silly mistake cost him over a stroke gained on his approaches, finishing the day with a -2.77 number. That simply won’t happen again, and I’m willing to bet on it for tomorrow’s round.

Sneaky Pick Outside the Top 10

Aaron Wise ($7,000)

The bit of coverage he was on last week, it really looked like he was starting to find his stride. He looked confident, firing at pins and starting to make some longer putts. He gained three strokes from tee to green today, showing more signs of the form being in a good place. With a difficult course on tap, I like a guy that is showing signs of comfort in his game. Usually, he’s able to maintain level heading if things start to go awry.

Lineup Fill-Ins

Dylan Frittelli ($7,600)

Jordan Spieth ($8,300)

Brooks Koepka ($9,500) 

Corey Conners ($7,500) 


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Author
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].

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