Matthew NeSmith Daily Fantasy News, Rankings, Projections

As expected there were plenty of big numbers to be had over the first two days of play at PGA National. With plenty of big names playing poorly over the first two days, players like Luke Donald and Brendan Steele find themselves at the top of the leaderboard heading into the weekend. Steele was in a similar position earlier this year at the Sony Open but was unable to seal the deal ultimately loosing to Cameron Smith in a playoff. Former number one player in the world Luke Donald finds himself near the lead on the weekend for the first since the 2017 RBC Heritage Classic. As a past champion of this event, Donald does have positive course history to build on, but at this point in his career, it's safe to say that we are not dealing with the same golfer. With a two-round scoring average of 144, PGA National did not yield many low rounds over the first two days of play. With hard course conditions through the weekend, the relative value of par golf really increases. There will be birdies made this weekend, but I would be surprised to see a sub 65 round. Of course, these are the best players in the world, and anything is possible, but your focus this weekend is to target players who understand how to attack this course. Players who fire at pins and miss will make big numbers, so unlike other showdown slates golfers who mix in a ton of pars with an occasional birdie will grade out as good plays. When looking at stats over the first two rounds I like taking shots on guys who have hit the ball well but just have not made any putts. In a birdie fest, this type of play will usually not work, but with par being a good score you can feel a little more comfortable with this type of play. PGA Tour rookie Matthew NeSmith is a player that fits in this type of play nicely. Over the first two rounds, NeSmith has hit 22 of 36 greens, but with almost 2 putts per GIR, he only has one birdie for the week. NeSmith has proven to be a good ball striker early in his career, and with a few more converted birdie opportunities this weekend he could end up being a great source of value.

While he is not quite a household name yet on the PGA Tour, Matthew NeSmith is quietly proving he belongs on the best tour in golf. Currently ranked 4th in the FedEx Cup standings for rookies ( 62nd overall), NeSmith comes into this week looking to build on his first career top 10 at last week's Puerto Rico Open. In 12 starts this season NeSmith has made 8 cuts including 5 top 25 or better finishes. With the potential wind in play this week and the overall tough nature of PGA National the need to target excellent ball strikers increases significantly. Through 20 plus starts last season on the Korn Ferry Tour ( 1 ranked in Gir) and his limited starts on the PGA Tour( 13th ranked in GIR), NeSmith looks to have the makeup of a player leans on accurate iron play. Priced-down in this field NeSmith is a young player worth taking a look at this week for both salary relief and upside in large field GPP's.