2026 Rocket Classic: Top DraftKings Showdown Plays & Live Bets Ahead of Round 2

The 2026 Rocket Classic is officially underway, with Detroit Golf Club continuing to produce the low scores we’ve all come to expect from this event pre-restoration. While there is certainly more bite to the course than we last saw it in 2025, Peter Malnati did not get the memo. He stands alone atop the leaderboard at 9-under-par. Malnati will have his work cut out for him over the next three days, however, as Ryan Gerard, Rickie Fowler, Patrick Cantlay, and Patrick Fishburn are each within three strokes of the lead.

Looking ahead, we have new data at our disposal to adjust our approach in DFS formats before Round 2 gets underway on Friday. Conditions were largely calm on Thursday, but the course will continue to get firmer as the week goes on. Ahead, we’ll look to identify the players who have shown they are most due for a Round 2 breakout.

Take a look at some of the best pillar players for the 2026 Rocket Classic DFS contests and live betting opportunities.

DraftKings Showdown Golf Strategy

DraftKings Golf Showdown Golf is a one-round Daily Fantasy format in which players aim to construct the best-scoring one-round lineup while staying within the allotted salary cap. To identify value in Golf Showdown, it’s typically best to focus on buy-low opportunities on players who’ve shown uncharacteristically poor putting in the prior round. There is also an opportunity to find leverage by identifying favorable weather splits and players who are more likely to card birdies-or-better.

Round 2 Rocket Classic Showdown Pillar Plays

After such an extensive restoration, it was difficult to hold much conviction about how the new-look Detroit Golf Club would play. One round later, we’re starting to see those questions answered.

Detroit Golf Club has always had a reputation for being a birdie-makers dream, but we saw in round 1 that poor shots are more likely to be penalized now, with strategically placed fairway bunkers, rasied greens, and longer rough. That places a heightened importance on driving accuracy and ball-striking, as the leaders have displayed in the opening round. Looking ahead, it is going to take a combination of driving accuracy, elite iron play, and a streaky putter to go low at Detroit Golf Club.

Identifying value players who check each of these boxes can provide valuable bonus points in the DraftKings Showdown format. The three players below will be foundational plays in my Round 2 Showdown lineups for these reasons.

Ryan Gerard ($8,900)

You have to be a skilled putter to thrive on a Donald Ross course, and an extensive restoration project has most definitely taken us back in time to Ross’ original intent. While Detroit Golf Club remains not the most daunting tee-to-green test, it is the best putters in the field who have been able to find scoring opportunities thus far. Of the top-12 players on the leaderboard, 11 rank inside the top-30 in SG: Putting.

Normally I would view a hot putter as an anomaly, but Donald Ross courses are the exception. So if putting skill is of premium importance here, I’m drawn to Gerard, who led the way in the opening round with nearly 6 strokes gained putting. While that may not be sustainable over the next three days, he’s also due to regress to the mean with his tee-to-green play in the rounds ahead. Gerard

Rickie Fowler ($8,400)

It has been a roller coaster 2026 season for Rickie Fowler, who has nine top-20 finishes on the season, but three missed cuts over his last six starts. The good news, however, is that Fowler is trending in the right direction now; he’s finished T38, T15, and T18 in his last three starts. The Rocket Classic is an inviting event for Fowler, who himself is a Rocket brand ambassador and past champion here back in 2023.

Fowler’s hot 7-under-par start may be proof alone that we should not disregard course history because of the extensive restoration project at Detroit Golf Club. He ranked 3rd in SG: T2G in his opening round, carried by his elite iron play on Thursday (3rd SG: APP). He’s also looked comfortable putting on these new greens (18th in SG: P), so there’s plenty of reason to feel optimistic about his chances to keep this hot form running into Friday.

ranked 6th in SG: TOT leading into this week and 10th in Prox: 100-150 yards, so if he can return to that level of ball-striking form on Friday, he’s in a great position to hold his position towards the top of the leaderboard.

Emiliano Grillo ($7,400)

The correlation between success at TPC Twin Cities and Detroit Golf Club has always been very high, and now that the two events are positioned back-to-back on the schedule, it sets up tas a great launching pad for players to conitnue their week-over-week momentum. Grillo has proven to be a beneficiary of the new scheduling, as he finished T7 at the 3M Open, and is currently T12 at the Rocket Classic after an opening round of 4-under-par.

Grillo’s form has been trending for a while now, as his T7 at the 3M Open was his fourth consecutive top-26 finish. He looks confident with his putter now – which is not always the case with Grillo – and encouragingly showed yet another above-average puttering performance in his opening round at Detroit Golf Club. The ball-striking remains sharp too, as Grillo ranks 6th in SG: APP and 12th in SG: Ball Striking after his opening round.

Live Bets To Consider Entering Round 2

Full Tournament Matchup: Ben Griffin over JJ Spaun

Best Available odds: +112

The two American Ryder Cup teammates are playing in the same group for the first two rounds of the Rocket Classic, were priced at even head-to-head odds pre-tournament, and were deadlocked through their first 17 holes Thursday before Griffin dropped a shot on the last. The margins are razor thin between these two players who each suit the course very well, but I remain more optimistic about Griffin’s upside here.

The opening round has proven as further support that Detroit Golf Club is a course intended to reward the most skilled putters. Putting is an area I expect Griffin to gain progressively on Spaun as the week goes on, and with these players entering in similar form leading in, it is an important area where Griffin holds an edge moving forward for the rest of this tournament.

Leader After Round 2: Jackson Suber

Best Available odds: +5600

Whenever we have a clear albatross of a first-round leader like Peter Malnati, it sets the stage for great value in the Seconf Round Leader market. Expecting Malnati to return to form as the 170th-ranked player in the 2026 FedEx Cup Standings, that opens the door for many challengers to make a charge.

Suber is currently four strokes off Malnati’s lead at T6, 5-under-par. Low rounds are out there at Detroit Golf Club though, with 13 players shooting scores of -5 or better on Thursday. Detroit Golf Club may not be the pure birdie fest it has been pre-restoration, but it remains a relatively short and gettable course for the best iron players. Suber ranks 1st in Par-5 Scoring and 6th in Birdie or Better Percentage over the last 36 rounds, setting a high ceiling for his scoring potential in round 2.

Best of luck with your Rocket Classic DFS lineups and bets!

Photo Credit: REUTERS