After the five-man playoff at the Sanderson Farms Championship that concluded with Luke List walking away with the big check, the PGA TOUR heads to TPC Summerlin (par 71, 7,255 yards, bentgrass greens) in Las Vegas, Nevada for the Shriners Children’s Open. This par 71 has been the home of the Shriners Open since 1992 and at this tournament last year, Tom Kim ran away with a three-shot victory at 24-under-par.
TPC Summerlin is a classic desert track that is littered with 92 bunkers and is home to massive greens. As we have seen over the last few years, with short players like Kim winning and bombers like Bryson DeChambeau also coming out on top at TPC Summerlin, any length of player can win at this venue. Succeeding at TPC Summerlin comes down to catching fire with both your irons and putter, as each of the past two victors at this course have ranked top-10 in both SG: Approach and SG: Putting during their wins.
As a standard par 71, TPC Summerlin features three par fives and 11 par 4s. Six of those par 4s fall between 400-450 yards and this is undoubtedly the most important range of hole for research. Kim finished second in efficiency on the 400-450-yard par 4s at TPC Summerlin during his win last season, making him the third Shriners champion over the last four years to either lead their field or finish runner-up in the stat.
Headlined by Kim in his title defense – who is the current betting favorite to win the Shriners on the DraftKings Sportsbook at +1000 – seven of the top-50 ranked golfers in the world will be teeing it up at TPC Summerlin this week. This event features a normal top-65 and ties cut following the first 36 holes. Below, I dive into four of my favorite DraftKings bargain plays for the Shriners Children’s Open, that all are priced under $7.5K.
Sam Ryder ($7,400) – Ryder has flashed great upside at TPC Summerlin in the past, making three-of-five cuts at the desert track, with all three of these finishes being top-30 results, most notably with a solo third place finish in 2018. Now, the 33-year-old heads back to Las Vegas in tremendous form with his irons, poising Ryder for another high finish at TPC Summerlin.
The veteran has made five consecutive cuts coming into this week – including three finishes of T31 or better – while gaining strokes on approach at all of these tournaments. In fact, when we compare this field’s last 24 rounds, no player has gained more strokes on approach than Ryder. Additionally during this time, he ranks 12th in 400-450-yard par-4 efficiency, which bodes extremely well with a trip to TPC Summerlin up next. At +5500 on the DraftKings Sportsbook, Ryder boasts the best odds to win the Shriners Open of all the golfers priced under $7.5K for DFS and is a no-brainer at his cheap salary.
Matthew NeSmith ($7,100) – NeSmith is an outstanding combination of strong form and course history that can’t be ignored at this low salary. The 30-year-old finished runner-up to Kim at last year’s Shriners Open and has finished no worse than T18 in four appearances at TPC Summerlin. Overall, NeSmith owns an average finish of 10.5th place at this track, which is the best in this field of all the players who have competed at TPC Summerlin more than once.
The University of South Carolina product now returns to Sin City this week on the heels of a T25 at the Sanderson Farms Championship last week, in which he gained strokes in every major category, except off-the-tee. NeSmith has now advanced to the weekend in four of his last six starts, and not only is a terrific DFS target this week, but also an appealing bet for a top-20 finish on the DraftKings Sportsbook at +250.
Martin Laird ($7,100) – Laird is a true course horse at TPC Summerlin. The veteran just won at this course for the second time two years ago, marking his seventh top-30 finish at TPC Summerlin. Overall, Laird has made 12-of-14 cuts at the track.
As for his current form, Laird is riding a five made cut streak, including three top-20 finishes, most notably with a runner-up at the 3M Open in July. The 40-year-old has the potential for another top-20 finish this weekend and must be attacked at this cheap price tag.
Chad Ramey ($7,000) – After being a featured pick in this article last week, Ramey delivered in a big way at the Sanderson Farms Championship, carding a T16 finish, while ranking fourth in SG: Approach for the event. Now, at $200 less, we have to go right back to Ramey this week.
The 31-year-old has recorded back-to-back top-20 finishes and has only missed one cut in his last eight starts. Ramey ranks top-30 in SG: Approach and par-4 efficiency over his past 24 rounds, and should effortlessly out produce this low price tag at TPC Summerlin. In his first two attempts at the Vegas venue, Ramey has finished T14 and T28 at TPC Summerlin the past two years.
Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR $300K Sand Trap [$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 skills 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.