The tour moves to ‘Sin City’ this week for the Shriner’s Hospital for Children Open. Find out who Damien Kayat is backing as the ‘Man to Beat’ for Thursday’s event.
2019 US PGA Tour | Shriner’s Hospital for Children Open
TPC Summerlin, Las Vegas, Nevada
Thursday 3 October 2019 – Sunday 6 October 2019
Last Week’s Safeway Open went down to the absolute wire, with Cameron Champ emerging victorious in an emotionally overwhelming final round. The tour moves to ‘Sin City’ this week for the Shriner’s Hospital for Children Open. This event was founded 34 years ago in 1983. It actually has the distinction of being the first golf tournament to offer a purse in excess of a million dollars. That was in 1984- my how times have changed. This event was originally a pro-am played over five rounds, with multiple course in usage. It was reduced to four rounds in 2004 and has been staged exclusively at TPC Summerlin since 2008.
This course was designed in 1992 by Bobby Weed- in strong consultation with Fuzzy Zoeller. The rough isn’t punitive, though recent stats seem to suggest that driving accuracy has proved more important than distance in recent events. The fairways are notoriously broad, however, which may make that stat slightly misleading. The bentgrass greens are large and receptive to incisive iron-play. Similar to the European Tour event this week, Summerlin plays at altitude, leaving it quite exposed to the humongous hitters that populate today’s tour. There have been attempts to change the bunkering in recent years in a vain attempt to curtail ridiculous scoring. But it hasn’t helped and you can fully expect some ultra-low numbers this week.
Major Champion aficionado Brooks Koepka hasn’t teed it up in over a month, which will make him tough to back at such a low price. One always has to consider his frankly ordinary form in regular tour events. Patrick Cantlay will be looking to his 2017 victory here for inspiration. Defending champion Bryson DeChambeau once again pushed slow-play fanatics to breaking point last week with an agonizing 15 minute wait to play an awkward pitch. This week features a strong field, with Webb Simpson and Tony Finau also in contention. Cameron Champ will be looking to follow up his blistering performance from last week as his grandfather’s battle with stage 4 stomach cancer continues. Things look to be heating up as progressively more competitive fields are starting to crawl out of the woodwork.
Past Winners
2018: Bryson DeChambeau (-21)
2017: Patrick Cantlay (-9)
2016: Rod Pampling (-20)
2015: Smylie Kauffman (-16)
2014: Ben Martin (-14)
Outright Betting (To Win)
Brooks Koepka (8/1)
Patrick Cantlay (12/1)
Bryson DeChambeau (16/1)
Webb Simpson (22/1)
Tony Finau (22/1)
Value Bets
Charles Howell III
To Win (55/1), To Place (12/1)
The ever consistent Charles Howell III is a past master of these wraparound events and looks a real chance at 12/1 in the place markets. This will be his first start at Summerlin since 2016. His last four starts in this event have seen him collect three top 20 finishes, including a tie for 5th at the 2013 edition. He showed his early season credentials once again with an excellent tie for 4th at last week’s Safeway Open. Perhaps most impressive were his putting stats. He finished 3rd in shots gained putting. He could once again contend if his putter continues to augment his usually consistent tee-to-green game.
Chesson Hadley
To Win (125/1), To Place (25/1)
This one is certainly towards the more speculative end of the market, especially when you look at Hadley’s dodgy recent form. In 2013 he showed his suitability for this course with an excellent tie for 5th. But even more recently he has shown the ability to dominate this course. In 2017 he finished in a tie for 4th while he had to settle for a tie for 7th last year. Last year could have been far more interesting had he not thrown away things slightly on Sunday. He was hitting 83.33% of greens in regulation prior to Sunday. On Sunday he only hit 66% of greens, with four bogeys seeing him plummet down the leaderboard.
The Man to Beat
Gary Woodland
To Win (28/1), To Place (6/1)
I’m opting for last year’s champion at Pebble Beach: Gary Woodland. Woodland currently sits 10th in the President’s Cup standings, and with only the top 8 automatically qualifying it’s time for him to make a statement to Tiger Woods. Summerlin is a resort style par 71 that is quite similar to Scottsdale, where Woodland won last February to begin his quest for US Open glory. Woodland was 18th at Summerlin on his first visit and 10th on his last, showcasing his excellent approach play. He was also played well in Nevada previously, claiming victory in the Barracuda Championship in the past. He closed with 63 here last year and now enters proceedings as a bonafide Major Champion.
