The PGA Tour returns to full field action in America this week after the conclusion of the Asia swing and it does so where dreams come true in Law Vegas as the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open takes place.
Traditionally this hasn’t always been a tournament for the big names but the truncated schedule this year has given a few of them the nudge to get the clubs out of the bag to try and snatch the title from defending champion Patrick Cantlay.
Recent Winners
2017 – Patrick Cantlay
2016 – Rod Pampling
2015 – Smylie Kaufman
2014 – Ben Martin
2013 – Webb Simpson
2012 – Ryan Moore
2011 – Kevin Na
2010 – Jonathan Byrd
2009 – Martin Laird
2008 – Marc Turnesa
The Course
We are back at TPC Summerlin this week but the course has changed since the tournament was last held here. The bunkers have all been redone to take into account the recent hike in driving distance so finding the fairways will remain tough this week.
Despite that I think we are looking for a low scoring tournament on the par 71 track which measures 7,255. We are near the desert here so the ball will fly a little further so it doesn’t play that long. A good tee to green game and a hot putter are generally the keys to success this week with accuracy gaining in importance more and more often.
The Field
This is as good a field as I can remember for this tournament with a number of leading names teeing it up. Ryder Cup stars Rickie Fowler, Jordan Spieth, Webb Simpson, Bryson DeChambeau and Tony Finau are all here this week while Matt Kuchar is also teeing it up.
The defending champion Patrick Cantlay is here as is winner in waiting Gary Woodland. They are joined by Kevin Tway, the winner of the first tournament of the new campaign with last week’s winner Cameron Champ also teeing it up looking for back-to-back successes.
Market Leaders
Tony Finau and Rickie Fowler are 12/1 joint favourites this week. I can’t go near Finau at 12/1 especially after last week which highlighted just how infrequently he has won for someone so highly thought of. Fowler would be more to my liking had he shown any sign at all of winning recently. He hasn’t so both can be passed over in my opinion.
Bryson DeChambeau and Jordan Spieth come next in the betting at 14/1. To be fair at their best both of these should be capable of waltzing through this field, especially Spieth but he hasn’t driven the ball well for a long time which puts me off him and I’m a little concerned at the amount of golf that DeChambeau has played this year. At the prices which are nothing to write home about I’ll leave both alone.
Webb Simpson has had a wonderful 2018, winning The Players and then being America’s second best player at the Ryder Cup and he is 16/1 to win this tournament. He is a former winner here so we know that he can do it but given the quality of the top few in the field I’m reluctant to get involved at a short price. A bit bigger maybe but he’s no better than a fair price.
I’m certain there is a win in Gary Woodland in the not too distant future and it could well come here but 18/1 on a bloke who wins very infrequently is not all that appealing in truth. If he was in the 25/1 range then maybe I would have been interested but if he wins here then so be it but I can’t be on him at shorter than 20s. It is 20/1 bar.
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Main Bets
I’ll go with a couple of main bets in this tournament with Beau Hossler the first of those. He was seventh here on debut last season and in his rookie campaign last term he did everything but lift a trophy. Twice he was second in tournament play and he went well on a number of occasions. I think he should be looking at winning a tournament of this kind and on a track which should bring out his best features he is well worth supporting.
It is hard not to take Chesson Hadley this week. We are looking for a good all-round game around here and that is exactly what Hadley possesses so in theory he should go very well here. Hadley was second in Malaysia three weeks ago and he’s had last week off to reacclimatise to American timings and things so I’m expecting him to emulate, or even better, the two top five finishes he already has on this track.
Outsiders
Kevin Tway looks a big price this week. We often see players who win these ‘Fall Series’ events go close or even win another of them and I see no reason why he can’t win around here too. Tway looked very good in winning the Safeway Open to begin the campaign and he’s had enough time to let that sink in to go well again this week. We know his game is in good order which is half the battle at this time of year. I’ll take him to come through this week.
Anders Albertson was my pick last week and he ran hot enough to earn himself a space in my staking plan again this week. I won’t go too much more on what I said last week but it is clear that the Web.com Tour graduate is becoming more comfortable at PGA Tour level. If he can be a little more up with the pace early on this week he might just usurp the star names in the field to land his maiden PGA Tour win.
Tips
Back B.Hossler to win Shriners Hospitals for Children Open (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 34.00 with BetVictor (1/5 1-6)
Back him here:
PLACED – Back C.Hadley to win Shriners Hospitals for Children Open (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 51.00 with Boylesports (1/5 1-7)
Back him here:
Back K.Tway to win Shriners Hospitals for Children Open (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 81.00 with Betfair (1/5 1-7)
Back him here:
Back A.Albertson to win Shriners Hospitals for Children Open (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 111.00 with Betfred (1/5 1-7)
Back him here:
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