The PGA Tour heads to the desert for the next two weeks with the first tournament of the pair in Las Vegas seeing the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open taking place. This is a regular event at this time of year and a decent field has been assembled once again.
Kevin Na was the winner here last year and he is back to look to defend a title which is beginning to increase in importance with this wrap-around period yielding bigger rewards. If he is to make a successful defence he’ll have to see off some big names.
Recent Winners
2019 – Kevin Na
2018 – Bryson DeChambeau
2017 – Patrick Cantlay
2016 – Rod Pampling
2015 – Smylie Kaufman
2014 – Ben Martin
2013 – Webb Simpson
2012 – Ryan Moore
2011 – Kevin Na
2010 – Jonathan Byrd
The Course
We are back at TPC Summerlin this week for what is always a popular tournament with those who like making birdies. The course is a par 71 and one of the easier of that par on the entire tour. It measures 7,255 yards but plays nothing like that yardage with the heat and altitude of Las Vegas. The rough is usually kept to a minimum here and the greens are enormous so it is very much a case of swing hard and make as many putts as you can.
There is no massive advantage in terms of length this week although it stands to reason with the rough down that the further you mow it off the tee the closer to the greens you’ll be. This will be a putting contest so players who hole lots of putts and who have shown some good recent form should be the ones to focus on. This isn’t really a week for the players who prefer the tougher courses.
The Field
Each year the field for this tournament seems to get better and better and that is no different this year. The two major winners of 2020 so far both tee it up this week in Collin Morikawa and Bryson DeChambeau and a host of other established names also tee it up including the defending champion Kevin Na. Former champions such as Webb Simpson, Patrick Cantlay and Martin Laird also have tee times this week.
There are a number of top names yet to win the title teeing it up too. Jason Day, Rickie Fowler, Hideki Matsuyama, Scottie Scheffler and Matthew Wolff are just some of those while Harris English will be looking to back up his fine run at the US Open. Sungjae Im, Joaquin Niemann and Abraham Ancer are just some of the rising stars of the PGA Tour who are here too as are veterans such as Zach Johnson, Matt Kuchar and Brandt Snedeker.
Market Leaders
Given the way he tore Winged Foot apart I wouldn’t think there will be many times in the near future that Bryson DeChambeau tees it up but isn’t the favourite for the tournament. That certainly isn’t the case this week as the 2018 champion is a 15/2 market leader, and in truth it is hard to argue against the price even in this field. The only doubt would be whether he has the touch required on the greens to win again. He is a much more powerful animal than the one which won here two years ago. That is the only concern though but even so regular readers will know I don’t do single figure prices.
Webb Simpson is a former winner here and it almost went unnoticed that he finished in the top 10 of the US Open, such was the brilliance of the golf that DeChambeau played in New York. It is seven years since Simpson won this though when the event didn’t carry the significance or appeal that it does now. He has shown in the past that he can win shootouts but I always favour him on tougher tracks so even at 12/1 he isn’t really for me even though he is respected as a former winner.
Patrick Cantlay and Collin Morikawa come next in the betting at 18/1. I’ll focus on the latter down the page but Cantlay deserves a mention because his last three outings here reads 1-2-2. I’m not convinced that he is in the same sort of peak form that he was over that period but he wouldn’t be the first golfer to be inspired by a return to a happy hunting ground and he won’t be the last either. His putter can blow a little too hot or cold for my liking but to be fair he seems to have no problems on these greens.
Hideki Matsuyama is the fifth favourite to win the title for the first time. The Japanese player can be backed at 20/1 to win this tournament but he hasn’t really shown much in the way of form apart from on tough tracks recently so that isn’t a positive. That isn’t to say that he can’t win a low scoring tournament but all too often his putter is too quiet for me to get involved in him. His tee to green game is always respected but this course doesn’t play to those strengths so he isn’t for me.
Main Bets
Usually I would save Collin Morikawa for tougher tests than this but as a Las Vegas resident he has played TPC Summerlin on plenty of occasions and he was going well enough for three rounds last year before he stalled on the Sunday. He has obviously gone on to great things since then winning the Workday Charity Open and the USPGA Championship. He should have won the Charles Schwab Challenge as well and he has shown in those events that he can score low too. He won the Workday on -19 and the PGA Championship on -13 and his -15 at the Charles Schwab Challenge was after a four month break so there is no reason why he can’t win these shootouts. He’s on a course he knows very well which brings out many of the strengths of his game and he looks a leading candidate to me.
Jason Day is one of the best putters on the PGA Tour and although you have to get him at the right time, I struggle to believe he is going to be teeing it up in a tournament of this kind if he isn’t in good order or doesn’t fancy his chances. That eases my mind that he is just here for a good time – this is Vegas after all! I’m expecting some big things from Day this season. He went close in the USPGA Championship which ended a run of four successive top 10 finishes. The only previous time Day teed it up in this tournament in the last decade he finished fourth so we know he can go well at TPC Summerlin and as I hinted before, he is here for a reason as it isn’t a regular stop off for him. This is going to be a putting contest and his putter stays hotter than most for longer so he has to be in our staking plan.
Outsiders
We’re keeping four decent putters on our side this week too. This is a tournament where outsiders can come in and the first of those is the 2014 runner up Kevin Streelman. Streelman has never been the most consistent player in the world and that is unlikely to change but he can be streaky in terms of making birdies and that is no bad thing here. Streelman ran very well at the Safeway Open not so long ago when he came third and he has also finished second in the Travelers Championship since lockdown too. He shot -18 in that tournament and in the Safeway Open so he can go low when the need arises. He is not going to be under pressure off the tee this week so if the putter gets hot he can go very well here.
Adam Hadwin hasn’t had the best of times of it since lockdown but he was fourth here last year when he closed with a 63 and is one of the better putters on the PGA Tour so he needs to be kept on side this week. The Canadian star has probably not been able to play on many tracks that suit him but this one does. A lack of strain off the tee, big greens to find and allowing good putting to come to the fore are where he tends to thrive so at a three figure price I’ll pay to see if he can capitalise on that this week.
Chesson Hadley might not have stacks of great form in recent times but he has a wonderful record around here with four top 20 finishes including in each of the last three years. Hadley is a very good putter and the rest of his game tends to be in good shape in this part of the country where the sun is on his back and he can play a little looser than in other parts of America. Hadley kicked off the season with a top 15 in the Safeway Open which suggests that the trend that he plays well in the west is going to continue. I’m prepared to ride his form here this week.
Finally I was sweating heavily down the stretch last week when Peter Malnati was leading with only really Sergio Garcia to catch him. I was worried because I was on Malnati the week before in the Dominican Republic. Thankfully Garcia overhauled Malnati but given that he now heads the strokes gained putting on the PGA Tour this season it makes perfect sense to side with him in a putting contest the week after he finished the runner up in a decent enough event at the Sanderson Farms last week. Malnati finished in the top 15 here a couple of years ago and is definitely arriving in better form now than he was then. He’s worth chucking a few coins at.
Tips
Back C.Morikawa to win Shriners Hospitals for Children Open (e/w) for a 1.5/10 stake at 19.00 with William Hill (1/5 1-8)
Back J.Day to win Shriners Hospitals for Children Open (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 34.00 with William Hill (1/5 1-8)
Back K.Streelman to win Shriners Hospitals for Children Open (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 101.00 with William Hill (1/5 1-8)
Back A.Hadwin to win Shriners Hospitals for Children Open (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 101.00 with William Hill (1/5 1-8)
Back them here:
Back C.Hadley to win Shriners Hospitals for Children Open (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 151.00 with Sky Bet (1/5 1-7)
PLACED – Back P.Malnati to win Shriners Hospitals for Children Open (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 176.00 with Sky Bet (1/5 1-7)
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2020
