After a dramatic opening to the new PGA Tour season the show heads to the bright lights, the glitz and the glamour of Las Vegas this week for the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, the second event of the season.
Emiliano Grillo ensured a blooming class of ’11 continued to take the golfing world by storm last week when he saw off Kevin Na in a playoff and both men are out for more attention this week.
In pure name the field this week isn’t anywhere near as strong as last week but I don’t think the tournament is going to prove any less competitive.
Rickie Fowler is the standout name in the field but it is Ben Martin who defends the title he won 12 months ago. He is as big as 100/1 to retain the title. It will take some retaining though.
Fowler begins the week as the 11/1 favourite to land the title. Brooks Koepka is rated his bigger danger at 20/1 and then come seasoned PGA Tour professionals Ryan Moore, Vegas native Kevin Na and Brandt Snedeker. Moore is a 25/1 shot with the other two the same price as Emiliano Grillo at 28/1. It is 33/1 bar those six.
Whoever wins this week will have had to have made plenty of birdies and eagles that much is for sure. That is because TPC Summerlin, the venue this week, is among the easiest on Tour with wide open targets off the tee and huge greens with little in the way of rough to protect either.
Given the size of the greens we’re looking for good wedge players and good putters. Although Grillo and Na lost ground to the field in strokes gained putting nobody can afford to be that bad with the short stick this week.
With the altitude and the humidity I’m not sure bombers have a major advantage this week but length is never a bad thing on courses with no protection so I’m going to take one of the longest of them all as my first pick.
That man is Tony Finau. The 2014 graduate was inside the top 10 here last year which is a positive and after a year on Tour his game has come on a lot so I’m expecting him to go very well here. He will take care of the par 5s which is half the battle around here and his length will give him the opportunity to go pin hunting from an early stage. At 35/1 he looks a more than fair bet this week.
Jason Bohn has a decent record around this golf course. He has been in the top 20 in four of his last five visits here including a runner up finish in 2013 and that coupled with his run last week where he was only a shot shy of the playoff has to put him high up in the equation this week.
Nobody hit more greens in regulation than Bohn last week and if he can replicate that this week and go after the flags he should be rewarded with a number of birdies. At 40/1 he looks good value compared to the much shorter in the betting duo he finished a shot behind last week.
One man in decent nick at the minute is Chris Stroud. He took his chance to line up overseas in the Dunhill Links three weeks ago and was rewarded with the runner up spot behind Thorbjorn Olesen and he followed that up with another top ten in the season opener in California last week.
I think he has a good chance here, especially if his putter stays hot. He has a good all round game. He was fifth in greens hit last week and sixth in strokes gained putting where nobody bettered his average distance of putts holed. That last stat catches my eye with these big greens and at 60/1 he looks a great option here.
Finally with birdies the order of the day I will chance the man who made more than anyone else on the Web.com Tour last season in Smylie Kaufman. Kaufman showed he can score at this level too as nobody bettered he on the par 5s at Silverado last week and with his putting prowess he could steal a march on some in this field on the greens. It is a long shot without a doubt but he was in the top 10 last week and at 250/1 I’ll pay to see if he can go a few better this week.
Back T.Finau to win Shriners Hospitals for Children Open (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 36.00 with Stan James (1/4 1-6)
Back J.Bohn to win Shriners Hospitals for Children Open (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 41.00 with Boylesports (1/4 1-5)
Back C.Stroud to win Shriners Hospitals for Children Open (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 61.00 with Coral (1/4 1-5)
Back S.Kaufman to win Shriners Hospitals for Children Open (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 251.00 with Paddy Power (1/4 1-6)
