PGA DFS Picks: Round 2 of the U.S. Open @ Winged Food l Play for 25k!

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

The morning wave, at least at times, was getting the best of this historic golf course. Justin Thomas played the best opening round ever at Winged Foot in a U.S. Open. Everything in his bag looked good in round 1, beating his playing competitors by nine and 11 shots. Rory McIlroy had a great chance to post that same number, having driven the green on the par-4 sixth, winding up with par. Then on the short par-5 ninth, he came up with a par. Still, a 3-under 67 has him right in it. Patrick Reed rode a hole-in-one to spur on his round and went out in 66. Those three were the only scores of 67 or better from the morning wave.

The only reason for this — and it was really only one — is the greens were abnormally soft. With little to no sunlight to bake them out and firm them up, the overcast, damp conditions have kept them at bay. Also, pin positions were undoubtedly on the more accessible side. That will change over the next three days, as there are plenty of things that can be done to speed up the greens. The morning wave went out to an average score of just about 72.5.’

Afternoon Wave

The afternoon wave started off with a flurry with Phil Mickelson birdieing the first two holes, but he could not keep the momentum. Dustin Johnson never got it, while Jon Rahm looked impressive again. The real surprise, at least from the better golfers, was Rickie Fowler, whose ball striking looked worldly different from what we saw him going through on the range yesterday evening, but even he couldn’t keep it going.

But his playing partner and fellow Oklahoma State alum Matthew Wolff matched Thomas Pieters’ 66 in the afternoon wave and will have the first cracks at catching Thomas tomorrow morning. Louis Oosthuizen rode a hole out and a 30 on the front nine, his back nine, to jump into the top five after round 1. Another international veteran, Lee Westwood, still in search of his first major win at the ripe age of 47, shot 67 while gaining in all four facets of the game.

Stat Review

Birdie or Better Leaders Through Round 1

Sabbatini (7)
Thomas (6)
Pieters, Wolff, Westwood, Finau, Wallace, van Rooyen, Danny Lee, Conners, Woods, Lorenzo-Vera, Palmer, Reed (5)

Strokes Gained Ball Striking vs. Putting

For the second straight tournament, Cameron Champ cannot find any touch on the green. He lost over three strokes today while gaining just about the same amount in his ball striking, for a 6 1/2-shot difference. A 74 has him on the outside of the cut line looking in right now. Viktor Hovland lost his touch as well, something he has had on the greens in the last couple of starts. He also had about a 6 1/2-shot differential. Davis Riley, Romain Langasque and Michael Thompson round out the golfers that couldn’t find anything on the greens but had a great day ball striking. In terms of studs, Tony Finau and Rahm both gained three more strokes ball striking than their putting. If that flips, they could get right back in this thing.

Click here to view the full stats from round 1.

Slate Preview

Lock Time

6:50 a.m. EST

Contest Preview

DraftKings

DraftKings is offering $25,000 to first and $100,000 guaranteed for round 2 showdown contests.

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

Top 10 Breakdown and PGA DFS Picks

There is a little bit of power, a little bit of finesse and a true American grinder (Reed) on the leaderboard after round 2. Thomas and Pieters are certainly known to bomb the ball, as are Wolff and McIlroy, while Oosthuizen and Westwood would rather find fairways en route to their success. So does Brendon Todd, for that matter. Xander Schauffele, Joaquinn Niemann,Harris English and Jason Korkak round out the top 10 after round 1.

Thomas Pieters ($7,300)

Gaining in every facet of his game today, Pieters looks poised to return to some type of form we saw years ago when he burst onto the scene. After one good round, maybe the ownership will just be too high, and he will end up being a good fade because of that. I’ll bet it’s not much above 20%, and with these stats, I’ll eat the chalk.

Stud or Value Pick Outside of Top 10

Jon Rahm ($10,300)

After gaining nearly three strokes with his ball striking, equally distributed between his tee ball and approach game, Rahm burned at least four edges on the day. If a couple of those go in, he would be sitting just one or two back. He’s out early in the morning and can get himself right up with Thomas before he even tees off. Ownership shouldn’t be terribly high with Thomas, Schauffele, Reed and McIlroy all up there.

Sneaky Pick Outside of Top 10

J.T. Poston ($6,200)

One of my last tweets I fired out on Wednesday night was this guy was my “hope he makes the cut but don’t expect him too” guy that allowed me to get my Rahm/Thomas, Rahm/McIlroy lineups. It worked for round 1, as he putted well and his ball striking looked decent. That seems like a good omen for him, as we know the talent is there and the short game is very good, giving him the confidence to save par just about anywhere. The price is right as well.

Lineup Fill-Ins

Adam Scott ($8,400)

Sungjae Im ($7,500)

Bryson DeChambeau ($9,100)

Mackenzie Hughes ($7,100)

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].