PGA DFS: Showdown Spotlight Round Two of the Sentry Tournament of Champions (FREE)

PGA DFS Round One  

The season started slow, as the first three holes on the course are some of the toughest. Only four combined birdies on them, with zero coming on the third hole, one that saw an extensive renovation over the last nine months. Joaquin Niemann had one of his best, if not his best single day putting performance, gaining almost three strokes on the field. He made every single putt he looked at. His tee-to-green game complemented that, gaining over 2.75 there as well. On the flip side of Niemann was Justin Thomas, who hit every ball inside of 15 feet all day it felt like and didn’t make many of them, only gaining .4 strokes putting on the day.

Jim Herman also struck the ball well without putting success, losing three strokes with the flat stick while gaining 2.45 ball striking. Xander Schauffele—who lost a stroke putting and gained about three ball striking—Sung Kang and Matthew Wolff rounded out the top five in the pivotal SG: BS Vs. — putting category. To see the entire list, check out my in-tourney model HERE.

Even as hot as Niemann’s day was on the greens, he only ranked fifth on the day. Patrick Reed and Patrick Cantlay were one and two, respectively with the flat stick yesterday, followed by Dustin Johnson and Dylan Fritelli and then Niemann. No one was within a stroke and a half of these five, a disparity not commonly seen. If any of these guys find something on the range last night or today, lookout. They could heat up quickly.

One last statstical note, Cameron Champ has not found his irons, as I proclaimed on the airwaves this week. At least, that was not the case in round one, losing almost three strokes on his approaches.

PGA DFS Round Two Showdown Picks 

Top-10 Pick

Justin Thomas ($10,500)

I’m not going to mess around, and I’m just going to play him. When he gets like this and he’s visibly laser-focused, it’s very rare he comes out of it. In my preview article for the year, I talked about how good Thomas can be if he’s fully healthy and I think we are going to start his best year on tour with a win this week. He’s so good around the green, a part of his game that continues to get better, and it was in full display yesterday. He also showed off his ball-striking, gaining a total of 4.26 tee to green yesterday, basically spread evenly amongst the three criteria.

PGA DFS Stud or Value Pick outside of Top-10

Collin Morikawa ($8,300)

After a brutal start, going all the way back to +3 and missing a couple inside of 10 feet, Morikawa settled down and still wound up getting in a couple under. He would be tied with the bunch at -4 if he hadn’t missed those two shorties. That should give him confidence going into today’s round. It was a toss-up between writing up Morikawa and Brendan Todd. The off-tee game of Todd makes me a bit nervous if these winds kick up. Still, I plan to have both in my lineups.

Sneaky Pick Outside of Top 10

Sung Kang ($6,900)

I’m doubling down on my call for week-long events and sticking with Kang. He had five birdies in round one and only one other golfer priced below $7,000 (Tyler Duncan) accomplished that feat. Kang’s ball striking was great and his putting was terrible, but as we noted, he’s a very streaky putter. I’m going to gamble that he finds it in round two.

PGA DFS Lineup Fill-Ins 

Xander Schauffele ($9,800)

Brendan Todd ($7,400)

Tyler Duncan ($6,500)