The fall swing continues this week with the Shriners Children’s Open. TPC Summerlin (par 71, 7,255 yards, bentgrass greens), located in Las Vegas, Nevada, will host this event, which has been the case since 1992.
With massive greens, open fairways and little trouble on the grounds — water only in play on four holes — TPC Summerlin is undoubtedly one of the easiest courses used at the PGA TOUR level. Winning the second PGA TOUR event of his career, Sungjae Im ran away with last year’s Shriners title, finishing at -24 — four shots clear of the rest of the field. Notably, the 24-year-old became the 27th winner at TPC Summerlin to shoot -20 or better since the venue started hosting this event 30 years ago.
Both long and short hitters can contend at this birdie fest, with accuracy OTT being more of an advantage than distance. Also, while the putting surfaces at TPC Summerlin are much larger than the PGA TOUR average, top-notch iron play is still a necessity at this track, with three of the past four Shriners champs ranking T7 or better in SG APP. Given the abnormal size of these putting surfaces at TPC Summerlin, and with very low scoring anticipated, putting a large weight on putting stats is a must this week, with two of the last three Shriners victors finishing the event top eight in SGP.
As a par 71, TPC Summerlin is home to 11 par 4s — six of which fall between 400-450 yards — and three par 5. Being efficient on both the par 5s and these six specific par 4s will be extremely critical. Last season, Im led his field in both SG on the par 5s and on the 400-450-yard par 4s at TPC Summerlin, making him the second Shriners champion over the last four years to lead the field in both categories.
There will be four top-25 ranked golfers competing in Las Vegas this week, with No. 4 Patrick Cantlay ($11,100) being the highest ranked player and the betting favorite on DraftKings Sportsbook at +600. Even at these odds and slate-high salary for DFS, Cantlay is a sharp selection this week. The 30-year-old won the 2017 Shriners, then carded back-to-back runner-up finishes at TPC Summerlin the following two years. Including that win in 2017, remarkably, six of Cantlay’s seven solo PGA TOUR wins have come at courses with bentgrass greens.
To get Cantlay in our lineups, we need to find some cheap golfers to roster around him. Below, I dive into four of my favorites value plays for the Shriners Open, which all cost less than $7.5K.
Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR $300K Pitch + Putt [$100K to 1st]
Gary Woodland ($7,400) – Coming off a MC at the Sanderson Farms Championship last week, this is an excellent time to buy low on Woodland. At CC of Jackson, the former major champion had a strong showing as a ball striker, producing five strokes from T2G and 2.2 strokes on APP. However, Woodland’s work on the Bermuda greens led to his demise, losing 5.8 strokes with his putter. While this isn’t encouraging, Woodland’s putting has historically been at its worst on Bermuda and at its best on bentgrass, certainly hinting at a potential bounce-back performance for him this week at TPC Summerlin.
Including a pair of top-20 finishes, Woodland has never missed a cut at this desert track in three attempts and is averaging 1.3 SGP across those three starts on the bentgrass greens at TPC Summerlin. If Woodland can resurrect his flat stick on these familiar putting surfaces, the 38-year-old could contend in this weak field.
Andrew Putnam ($7,300) – Putnam is an elite value at this soft salary. The 33-year-old arrives in Sin City riding a six-made-cut streak, with five of these finishes being top-30 results. Most impressively, Putnam carded a T11 at the 3M Open and a T5 at the FedEx St. Jude Championship during this stretch.
When we compare this field’s last 24 rounds, no player has gained more strokes on 400-450-yard par 4s than Putnam. Additionally, his flat stick has been red hot, ranking fourth in SGP. To put the icing on the cake, Putnam has made four of five cuts at TPC Summerlin, including two top-20 finishes over the last three years. Of all the players priced under $7.5K this week, Putnam carries the best odds to win the Shriners Open on DraftKings Sportsbook at +6000. To put into perspective how strong of odds these are relative to his DFS salary, Putnam boasts the same odds to win as Denny McCarthy, who costs $8,400.
Nick Taylor ($7,300) – After an uninspiring close to his 2021 campaign, Taylor has been great to start the 2022 season, finishing T6 at the Fortinet Championship and T19 at the Sanderson Farms Championship. Notably, he gained strokes from T2G and on APP at both these events. Furthermore, Taylor finished inside the top 10 in SG on the par 5s at both tournaments and shot under par in seven of these eight rounds.
The 34-year-old will now look to carry this momentum over to TPC Summerlin, where he has made seven of eight cuts in his career. At only $7,300, Taylor is a terrific combination of current form and course history that simply can’t be ignored.
Beau Hossler ($6,900) – Of all the sub-$7K options this week, Hossler stands head and shoulders above the rest. The former Texas Longhorn has been exceptional at TPC Summerlin, sporting a spotless 4-for-4 record in terms of made cuts, with no finishes worse than T34th — including a T7 back in 2017.
Hossler now returns to the par 71 on the heels of a T25 at the Fortinet Championship, which marked his third made cut in a row. At the North Course of Silverado CC that week, Hossler gained a career-best 5.8 strokes on APP. Plus, the 27-year-old generated 1.7 strokes with his flat stick on the POA/bentgrass greens at the North Course. Hossler has now gained strokes putting in seven consecutive starts and has advanced to the weekend in eight of his last 10 appearances at venues with bentgrass putting surfaces.
Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR $300K Pitch + Putt [$100K to 1st]
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I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and user (my username is Hunta512) and may sometimes play on my personal account in the games that I offer advice on. Although I have expressed my personal view on the games and strategies above, they do not necessarily reflect the view(s) of DraftKings and do not constitute a representation that any particular strategy will guarantee success. All customers should use their own skill and judgment in building lineups. I may also deploy different players and strategies than what I recommend above. I am not an employee of DraftKings and do not have access to any non-public information.