Players Championship 2021: Daily Fantasy Picks and Tips for Friday

TPC Sawgrass did not treat some of the top golfers in the world kindly during the first round of The Players Championship. 

The good news for Collin Morikawa, Jordan Spieth and others sitting at, or right above, par is that there are three days' worth of opportunities left to move up the leaderboard. 

Given the difficulty of the course, there should not be many low scores on Friday and 18-hole leader Sergio Garcia could fall back to the pack. 

Garcia turned in a seven-under 65 on Thursday, and he was one of two golfers to be lower than five under, but his recent Friday form suggests there will be a new leader through 36 holes. 

Even if Garcia plays well again on Friday, he likely will not carry as much value in daily fantasy contests as he did on Thursday. 

With that in mind, the Spaniard could be one of the top fades, while Morikawa and others should be worth looks since they have work to do to beat the cut. 

Garcia carried the most DFS value on Thursday with the best round by two strokes. 

However, his lead may not last for long it he continues to be average at best in the second round. He missed the cut at the Genesis Invitational with a second-round 71, and he dropped seven strokes on the second day of the WGC Workday Championship. 

Additionally, Garcia has carded a single score under 70 in five of his last six second rounds dating back to the CJ Cup at Shadow Creek. 

If that trend continues, Garcia should be in for a decent amount of regression, which hurts his single-day DFS value. 

Even if he does not suffer a multiple-shot drop, Garcia likely will not put together another seven-under round. He has just two other rounds of 65 or better in the 2020-21 PGA Tour season that started back in October. 

Garcia still carries value in tournament-long contests because he recorded two eagles and four birdies on Thursday, but if you are playing in a single-day event, he may be worth the fade with better options in the field. 

Morikawa may only be one under through 18 holes, but he did put in a decent round with four birdies. 

The only stretch in which Morikawa struggled was the final few holes of the back nine, where he carded bogeys at Nos. 16 and 17. 

The 2020 PGA champion provided a steady hand on the front nine with a pair of birdies and seven pars, which is an encouraging sign if he can avoid dropping shots on the final nine holes. 

Another reason to back Morikawa in single-day lineups is his lead in second-round scoring average across nine tournaments.

Morikawa has an average second-round score of 67.22, which is more than a half-stroke better than Jim Furyk in second place. 

When he won the WGC Workday Championship, the 24-year-old improved by six strokes from 70 to 64 in the second round to move into contention for the victory. 

If he finds that same form at TPC Sawgrass, Morikawa could emerge among a large collection of players in red numbers and land a favorable position heading into Saturday. 

If that does ring true, Morikawa could provide a boost to lineups.

Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90.

Statistics obtained from PGATour.com.