Shriners Hospital for Children Open: Expert Picks

Tournament Information

Shriners Hospital for Children Open
Date: October 7^th – 10th
Course: TPC at Summerlin
Purse: $7mm ($1.3mm to winner)
2020 Winner: Martin Laird (-23)

Course: TPC at Summerlin

Established in 1991 and designed by Bobby Weed and Fuzzy Zoeller, this par 71, 7,200 feet course has a course rating of 74.4 and a slope rating of 137. This course is a beautiful mix of desert terrain, canyon hills, rolling hills and tall grass. The final few holes will prove to be the most entertaining, featuring reachable albeit elevated greens, long narrow fairways and a few water hazards that are strategically placed. There is a risk/reward piece to this course, with a few holes having reachable greens with strong enough shots. You will see players who have more power behind their shots thrive (or falter).

Photo by Stan Badz/PGA TOUR via Getty Images

My Starting 4

Will Zalatoris (first selection this year) – Will finished 5^th here last year. Currently 10^th in FedEx Cup ranking (two tournaments into this year) he is 31^st in OWGR and he’s 10^th in total strokes gained after finishing among the top 15 in both tournaments this year. This could be a breakout year for the young star.

Matthew Wolff (first selection this year) — A solid all around player, he has a tendency to start the season strong. He was 17^th last week at Sanderson Farms Championship, and he was among the top 20 at Summerlin the last two years. He’s 17^th in total strokes gained, deriving largely from his tee to green where he is 16^th.

Webb Simpson (first selection this year) – In my opinion, he’s one of the most underrated players on the tour today. He finished top 20 each of the last three years here. Currently 24^th in OWGR, he finished 30^th at Fortinet Championship to start this season.

Brian Harman (first selection this year) — Brian was a top 20 finisher here the last two years, but not a top 10 finisher. He’s top 50 in FedEx points and OWGR. This will be his first tournament of the year, though he finished out the year well with a 29^th place finish at BMW Championship. Brian has one of the most accurate drives on tour.

My Bench 2

Matthew NeSmith (first selection this year) – A top 20 at Shriners the last two years, Matthew was not as good as Will or Wolff through the first two tournaments. NeSmith finished 51^st in one and missed the cut in the other. I am not overtly concerned, as he has struggled through most tournaments to begin the last two seasons, but I think he finds his way at Summerlin.

Si Woo Kim (first selection this year) – Si Woo started off this season with a pair of top 12 finishes. My concern is he has not finished among the top 50 at Summerlin in the last four years. Si Woo is currently 8^th in FedEx ranking and 44^th in OWGR. His iron game has really picked up momentum lately.