Fantasy golf advice: One & Done, The Honda Classic

ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. – Notes and observations from the second round of The RSM Classic at Sea Island Resort’s Seaside and Plantation courses. LEADING LIGHTS Charles Howell III has played more than 500 PGA TOUR events. He’s never lost his card in nearly two decades on TOUR. He’s earned more than $35 million. He’s finished worse than 70th in the FedExCup just four times. His career has been a success according to multiple metrics. But he also knows what his resume lacks, the obvious criticism of an incredibly consistent career. He’s won just twice. His last win was in 2007, before Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas were in high school. Howell has an opportunity to end his winless streak in the final event of 2018. He has a three-shot lead halfway through The RSM Classic after shooting back-to-back 64s. His 14-under 128 ties the best 36-hole start of his career and the tournament’s two-round scoring record. Howell, 39, has a three-shot lead over 44-year-old Jason Gore, who is playing on a sponsor exemption, and 23-year-old rookie Cameron Champ. Gore got his insurance license last week. Champ won last month’s Sanderson Farms Championship and is in position to take the FedExCup lead into 2019. Howell has yet to make a bogey despite cold, windy weather on Georgia’s Atlantic coast. He called these the best ball-striking rounds of his career. “I’ve almost done everything in my career, but playing with a lead isn’t one thing I’ve really done a whole lot,� Howell said. “I could talk to you about finishing second or third a lot. As many golf tournaments as I’ve played, this is still relatively new for me.� This is the eighth 36-hole lead of Howell’s career, and first since 2010. He’s never won when leading after two rounds. He could be tough to catch if his strong ball-striking continues. He’s missed just two fairways and two greens this week. “I don’t really get nervous,� he said. “Sometimes I’ll jump ahead of myself and I get a bit excited or try too hard at times.� He’s made it look easy this week. Now comes the hard part. OBSERVATIONS AMATEUR HOUR: LSU freshman Garrett Barber is in 10th place after shooting 65 on Friday. Barber got into the field after winning this year’s Jones Cup. Past champions of that event include PGA TOUR players Beau Hossler, Corey Conners, Justin Thomas, John Peterson, Patrick Reed, Kyle Stanley and Luke List. CLOSING LIKE A CHAMP: Champ birdied his final four holes to shoot 63 and move into contention at another PGA TOUR event. This is the 11th time in his past 14 rounds that he has ended the day in the top 10. He was in second place halfway through last week’s Mayakoba Golf Classic after shooting 62. He closed with consecutive 69s to finish 10th. On Friday, he shot 63 to tie Jason Gore for the low round of the tournament. Champ also has opened a large lead in the Birdies Fore Love race, which goes to the player who has made the most birdies and eagles this fall. The winner of that competition, which concludes this week, will win $300,000 for charity. Champ has made 110 birdies and eagles this season, 11 more than J.J. Spaun. LOTS OF LOVE: There will be two Loves at Sea Island this week after Davis Love III’s son, Dru, birdied two of his last three holes to make the cut on the number. Dru shot back-to-back 70s. His father is ahead of him by two shots. This is Dru’s third made cut in 14 starts. QUOTABLES I’m just an insurance salesman now.Early this morning, it was so cold out there. … The first few holes of the day, you’re just trying to survive.It’s hard not to feel comfortable around these two places. SUPERLATIVES Low round: Champ and Gore both shot 63 to move into second place at 11 under par. They both birdied Nos. 15-18 and shot 30 on the back nine. Longest drive: Tom Lovelady hit a 339-yard drive on the eighth hole. Longest putt: Blake Morris, a Monday qualifier, made a 58-foot putt Friday. He missed the cut by one shot. Hardest hole: The 204-yard, par-3 third hole on the Seaside Course played to a 3.36 stroke average. Only 39 of 77 players hit the green Friday. There were just three birdies on the hole. Easiest hole: The 555-yard, par-5 16th hole on the Plantation Course played to a 4.43 scoring average. CALL OF THE DAY For play-by-play coverage of the third round of The RSM Classic, listen at PGATOUR.COM. SHOT OF THE DAY

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Garcia continues form at BMW International

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Next up for the PGA TOUR is the John Deere Classic from Silvis, Illinois where opportunity exists for golfers and daily fantasy players alike. TPC Deere Run will play as a par 71, measuring 7,289 yards and be putt on bentgrass greens. The field is 156 players, with the cut coming at the top 65 and ties. Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR $800K Pitch + Putt [$200K to 1st] STRATEGY Webb Simpson ($10,600), Cam Davis ($8,400), Christiaan Bezuidenhout ($9,100) and Sahith Theegala ($10,100) will be looking to play well at TPC Deere Run, which is one of the lowest scoring courses on TOUR. Nine of the previous 13 winning scores have been more than 20-under par, with an average winning score of 21-22 under par over the past five events. The priority here is to make a ton of birdies and avoid any possibility of dropping strokes. Strokes Gained: Approach the Green is always a priority, but digging deeper, golfers who are strong with their wedges have fared well at this tournament before. Last season’s winner Lucas Glover ($8,300) mentioned, “I wedged it very nice today and putted well, which you have to do here, because you get a lot of opportunities, and distance control is pretty important … .” Other key stats to focus on are driving accuracy, par 4 scoring and par 5 scoring on holes between 550-600 yards, with all three on the scorecard falling in this distance range. Lineup construction can be a little tricky this week. Last season and 2019, the winners used the entire $50,000 salary cap. In 2018, the top lineup used just $49,000, with four golfers under $7,600. Based on the previous three years, there isn’t a daily fantasy lineup build that we should skew towards. Also, we shouldn’t see any outrageously high ownership on golfers this week, but the trends point to some dos and don’ts this week. When we look over the same timeframe as above, only one golfer in the winning lineup was roster over 16% (Patton Kizzire, 17.2%, 2021), but nine (50%) had double-digit roster percentages, meaning you don’t have to stay away from the chalk altogether this week. GOLFERS TO CONSIDER Adam Schenk ($7,700) TPC River Highlands is very similar to this week, and although Schenk missed the cut in Cromwell, Connecticut, he played much better on Friday than Thursday, gaining a stroke off the tee and nearly a stroke on approach. He hit 94% of his greens in regulation and almost 80% of his fairways in the second-round last week. He’s now gained strokes Tee to Green in his three previous starts and has tremendous finishes here of fourth (2021), where he ranked second in putting that week (+7.8), and sixth (2019), finishing second in strokes gained tee to green (+9.9). Schenk’s Midwest ties (born in Indiana) should make him feel comfortable playing in this part of the country, and hopefully, his putting success here last season can help with some of the recent troubles he’s encountered on the greens. John Huh ($7,800) also deserves a ton of consideration given how he’s playing, ranking top five in birdies or better gained and DKFP over the previous 12 rounds. Austin Smotherman ($7,000) Like Schenk, Smotherman could not make the cut last week but has put together an excellent resume in his rookie season, with three top-25 finishes and an 11th-place finish in 18 starts. He’s solid with his wedges, ranking 20th in proximity from 100 to 125 yards over the previous 24 rounds, and is scoring well, ranking 14th in birdies or better gained over the last dozen rounds. Smotherman racked up a win and three top 5s on the Korn Ferry Tour last season, so he’s used to playing in conditions where you need to make birdies in bunches. Some of my other favorite daily fantasy sleepers this week are Robert Streb ($6,600), who’s been inside the top 10 in par 5 scoring for the past 50 rounds, and Chris Stroud ($6,500), who’s only missed the cut once (2016), and has two top-5 finishes (2019, 2015) and a top 20 (2017) in his last five starts here. Stroud hasn’t played on TOUR since February, which is slightly alarming, but you don’t need to be heavily exposed to him at his price or projected roster percentage. Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR $800K Pitch + Putt [$200K to 1st] Put your knowledge to the test. Sign up for DraftKings and experience the game inside the game. All views expressed are my own. I am an employee of DraftKings and am ineligible to play in public DFS or DKSB contests. The contents contained in this article do not constitute a representation that any particular strategy will guarantee success. All customers should use their own skill and judgment in building lineups. 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