Shriners Children's Open Picks and Predictions: Look for Cameron Davis, Tom Hoge to Impress

Shriners Children's Open Picks and Predictions: Look for Cameron Davis, Tom Hoge to Impress

The Shriners Hospital for Children Open is a golf tournament that was founded in 1983 and is played annually in Las Vegas as part of the PGA Tour's fall swing. After moving around to a number of different courses in the greater Las Vegas area, the event found its current home at TPC Summerlin, which has been the sole host course for over a decade. Sungjae Im will be back to defend his title, and he will be joined by his Presidents Cup teammates, Cameron Davis, Tom Kim, Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Taylor Pendrith, and K.H. Lee. The United States Presidents Cup will be represented strongly as well, as Patrick Cantlay and Max Homa will also be making the trip to Las Vegas.

Shriners Hospital for Children Course Preview

TPC Summerlin

I probably sound like a broken record at this point, but the formula at TPC Summerlin is fairly simple. Similar to Silverado and the Country Club of Jackson, the Bobby Weed design generally plays as one of the easier courses on the PGA Tour schedule. In fact, I believe that Summerlin is even more score-able than the first two stops on the fall swing. Playing as a par 71 and tipping out to 7,255 yards, TPC Summerlin was the sixth easiest course on the PGA Tour last year. It's important to consider that this course plays far shorter than its yardage suggests because it's located at altitude. For context, historic driving distance at TPC Summerlin is 296 yards, 14 yards higher than the Tour average of 282. Seven par fours measure under 450 yards, which explains the large plurality of short iron approaches. Players will need to be in attack mode from start to finish.

The only real defense of the golf course comes in the form of wind. In 2017, Patrick Cantlay won this event at nine-under par in blustery conditions. The average winning score across each of the last 10 editions is 22-under, so the Cantlay year is the true outlier. History would suggest that conditions will be benign, but the wind is worth monitoring as we get closer to tee-off. Early forecasts look less than imposing, and if benign conditions hold, expect the winning score to clear 20-under this week with ease. I will primarily be looking to target players that are elite inside 175 yards, are capable of catching fire with their flat-stick, and consistently raise their baseline in easy scoring conditions.

Shriners Hospital for Children Key Stats

• Birdies or Better Gained
• Strokes Gained Putting: Bent-grass

Tom Hoge (+6000) (Bet $100 to Win $6,000)

*Odds available on DraftKings

Tom Hoge is a player that I will always have a sofede 15 feet per round than Hoge. The TCU product is coming off a 12th-place finish at the Fortinet where he gained 1.3 strokes off the tee and 4.2 strokes on approach. I expect him to continue his momentum in the Fall swing and find himself firmly in the mix come Sunday afternoon in Las Vegas.

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