PGA Championship 2022: Daily Fantasy Picks and Tips for Thursday

0 of 3

Matt York/Associated Press

The 2022 PGA Championship opens up Thursday with similar fanfare to The Masters. 

Most of that attention is centered around Tiger Woods and the potential for him to shoot a low round after a few intriguing practice rounds.

Woods’ best chance to go low at Southern Hills Country Club may be on Thursday since his body will be the freshest. 

Woods shot a first-round 71 at The Masters before all of his scores got worse and he landed in 47th place.

The 2007 PGA champion at Southern Hills could drop a low round to set the tone for an intriguing next three days in Tulsa, Oklahoma. 

Woods will not be the only golfer that has our attention during Thursday’s first round. 

The top players in the world need to get off to a fast start if they want to hold the Wanamaker Trophy on Sunday night. 

Two of the last three PGA Championship winners were in the lead by Friday night and a similar situation played out in 2007, when Woods took hold of the lead at Southern Hills at the end of the second round. 

1 of 3

Matt York/Associated Press

Tiger Woods’ form over four days at a major championship is still unknown.

Woods played four rounds at The Masters, but he looked like a shell of himself on the weekend since he was playing in his first tournament after a long layoff.

Woods’ body was at its freshest on Thursday at Augusta National Golf Club. He shot 71 to trigger some what ifs about his contending ability. 

The 46-year-old is not a weekend-long play yet in daily fantasy golf contests, but he could useful in a Thursday only contest. 

Woods has some course familiarity from winning the PGA Championship at Southern Hills in 2007 and he could bank on that to shoot a lower round compared to the rest of the weekend. 

He might surprise us all with a few low rounds in Oklahoma, but we just do not know how Woods’ body will hold up over 72 holes at a major yet. 

The best chance to use Woods is on Thursday, and if he looks good enough over 18 holes, you might be swayed to use him on Friday and beyond. 

2 of 3

Emil Lippe/Associated Press

The 2019 and 2021 PGA Championships were won by golfers that took the lead after the second round. 

The Masters followed that same trend in April, as Scottie Scheffler controlled the top of the leaderboard through the weekend. 

The 2022 PGA champion may not lead after the first round, but he is likely to be somewhere in the top 10 after his first 18 holes. 

Whichever golfer you have chosen to win the event needs to be in your daily fantasy lineup because of the recent trends in play. 

A situation could always arise in which the winner emerges on Sunday, like Collin Morikawa in 2020, but he still can’t be too far down the pack after Thursday.

Scheffler, Jon Rahm and Jordan Spieth are considered some of the favored golfers to win at Southern Hills. 

One of those players should be included in your Thursday lineup, even if you do not believe they will win outright because of the terrific form they are in.

Spieth and Rahm both won tournaments on the PGA Tour after The Masters and Scheffler is coming off yet another top 20 finish from the AT&T Byron Nelson.

3 of 3

Sue Ogrocki/Associated Press

The first-round leader at major tournaments can be long forgotten by history.

For example, no one remembers that Graeme Storm shot five-under 65 to take the lead after 18 holes at Southern Hills in 2007.

Everyone remembers that Tiger Woods triumphed at the event to add to his major championship haul. 

Thursday’s first-round leader may not be anyone notable and there is a scoring statistic that may help us find out who it is. 

Patrick Cantlay leads the PGA Tour in first-round scoring average. Cantlay is one of the most known players on the circuit, but he has not put it all together at a major yet. 

Cantlay could be a good option for a one-day DFS lineup in case he does not perform well over the weekend. 

Joaquin Niemann, Cameron Smith, Russell Henley and Matt Kuchar round out the top five in first-round scoring average. 

Niemann and Smith both landed inside the top three after 18 holes at Augusta, so there may be a direct correlation between that number and which players top the leaderboard.