PGA DFS Picks: Showdown Spotlight Round 3 of the U.S. 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 U.S. 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.

Previous Round: Morning Wave

Xander Schauffele looked poised to get to the top of the leaderboard, but then, Winged Foot really kicked into gear. The greens became fast, the rough got longer, and suddenly, no one could hit fairways, including Xander. That didn’t really matter for Bryson DeChambeau, whos strategy of hitting driver everywhere is working, as he posted the low 36 holes at three-under-par, including an eagle on his finishing hole. The big surprise of this wave was Rafa Cabrera Bello, who backed up his two-under round and grinded out an even-par 70 to sit just one back of Bryson. Nobody else from the wave is under-par thru 36 holes, with both Thomas Pieters & Matthew Wolff shooting four over 74s. Bubba Watson rounds out the top five or so golfers from this wave, having one of the lowest rounds of the day at 69.

The scoring average for day two in the morning wave was 4.6 or 74.6, pushing the two day total to +7.1.

Afternoon Wave

The scoring didn’t get any easier. In fact, it got harder, with only one score in the 60’s Hideki Matsuayam’s 69. Justin Thomas couldn’t keep pace with the field, or at least the top 10, shooting 73, while Patrick Reed is taking his scrambling ability to a new level, ranking outside of the top 80 in terms of driving accuracy on the week. It will be interesting to see if that keeps up. Harris English & playing partner Brendon Todd were both able to shoot even-par rounds on the day and remained inside the top 10. Jason Kokrak maintained his strong play as well, bouncing back to shoot 71 after getting to three over on the day.

Cutsweat

Here is where the DFS Contest stands heading into the weekend.

Check out how your lineups are doing athttps://t.co/eFGb5GfqGD
See your lineups summary athttps://t.co/wqHBUmhNn8 #DFS #PGA pic.twitter.com/l1x0vmPk2E

— Cut Sweats (@CutSweats) September 18, 2020

Just about 7% of the lineups got 6/6 thru the cut this week.

Stat Review:

Birdie or Better Leaders Through Round 2

Reed (10)
DeChambeau, Cabrera Bello, Thomas (9)
Kokrak, Wolff, Finau, Berger, Sabbatini (8)

Strokes Gained Ball Striking vs. Putting

Admittedly, I played absolutely no Rickie Fowler this week, but not because I thought he’d be losing four strokes with his putter thru two rounds. In fact, I thought it would be his ball-striking where he’s gained almost four! That’s a nine-stroke differential, and now he leads this category. Tony Finau & Hideki Matsuyama have also gained, on average, four more strokes with their ball striking over the first two rounds, with Bubba Watson & Will Zalatoris rounding out the top 5.

Strokes Gained Ball Striking Differential

Paul Casey had to go around in 70 seven strokes or less today just to make it to the weekend, and he did. In large part, that was dude to his almost four strokes gained ball-striking today, which was 4.33 higher than Thursday. Matsuyama, Harris English, Bubba Watson, Lucas Glover & Renato Paratore all gained at least three strokes more with their ball striking on Friday versus their Thursday round.

Click here to view the full stats from round 2.

Slate Preview

Lock Time

8:55 Am EST

Contest Preview

DraftKings

DraftKings is offering $25,000 to first and $100,000 guaranteed for round 3 showdown contests.
DK is offering $20,000 to first and $70,000 guaranteed for the weekend-long contests.

Fanduel

FanDuel is offering $4,000 to first and $20,000 guaranteed for the weekend-long contests.

Make sure to follow us on Twitter for giveaways and promos!

Top 10 Breakdown and PGA DFS Picks

As much as Reed has struggled off the tee, he’s been able to back it up with great short game and a good approach game over his first two rounds. Hitting only 36% of his fairways, though, won’t get him the trophy come Sunday afternoon. He’ll need the driver to wake up if he wants to main train the lead. Bryson DeChambeau looks incredibly dangerous here, driving the ball superbly and managing the rough way better than most others this week. Justin Thomas is one of three other studs that are in the top 10 heading into the weekend, including Matsuyama & Schauffele. Matsuyama had one of the better chips today, on the first hole, with Spieth coming in and egging it into the hole.

Hideki Matsuyama ($8,600)

Having such a good record in this tournament is a testament to his tee to gree game. His ball-striking really woke up today, though, gaining over five strokes! Typically when that gets going for Hideki, it’s only the putter that holds him back. The first two rounds haven’t been great, losing just over a stroke total in the first two rounds, which for him is pretty darn good! If the get’s hot tomorrow, or over the weekend, he could make a run at this first major!

Stud or Value Pick Outside of Top 10

Viktor Hovland ($7,700)

In just his second U.S. Open, Hovland looks to make it 2/2 in getting inside the top 15. He’s struck the ball incredibly well over the first two days, gaining almost six strokes total, and had his short game follow in round two. Now that we’ve seen all the parts of his game flash this week, I think we buck the trend and get under par tomorrow. His price should allow you to pair up Hideki with two studs and a couple of tertiary pieces.

Sneaky Pick Outside of Top 10

Sungjae Im ($7,300)

After a five over 75 today, I’m sure Im won’t be anyone’s radar tomorrow. But, Im’s ball-striking has been very good, and it’s his short game that hasn’t been good. If his recent past is any indication of what he’s capable, that’s all he’s been relying on! Going out early in the morning tomorrow, or on the early side, could give him a chance to really move up the board with a good day with his putter.

Lineup Fill-Ins

Bubba Watson ($7,500)

Rory McIlroy ($9,700)

Adam Hadwin ($6,600)

Michael Thompson ($6,700)

Follow us on all of our social channels! Check out our Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube for more great Awesemo content.

Looking for more PGA DFS picks content? We’ve got loads of articles, data, cheatsheets, and more on the Awesemo PGA home page. Just click HERE.

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].