Following Sam Burns’ impressive victory in the Sanderson Farm last week, the PGA Tour now heads to Las Vegas, where the Shriners Children’s Open will be held at TPC Summerlin. Many of the Ryder Cup players return to action this week, with 11 of the current top 25 in the world set to feature.
Shriners Children’s General Information:
- Date: 7th October – 10th October, 2021
- TV-Time: 5:00 p.m. ET, Golf Channel
- Venue: TPC Summerlin
- Location: Las Vegas
- Prize Money: $7,000,000 ($1,160,000 1st Place)
- Winner last year: Martin Laird
Tournament, Conditions & Course Info
Another of the PGA Tour regulars, the Shriners Children’s Open is once again back. Many of the best players in the world of golf will be back in action at TPC Summerlin, which has hosted the event for nearly two decades. However, world number one Jon Rahm won’t feature,choosing to play in the Open de Espana in his native homeland instead.
Designed by Bobby Wood, TPC Summerlin is laid out across the tough terrain of the Nevada desert. The course is open by nature and features a set-up which is among the most player-friendly on the PGA Tour. The combination of a lack of trees and easy-to-find fairways makes life off the tee simpler, while some of the largest greens on the schedule allow for a typically low-scoring week. The score has been low in each of the last three renewals, with the winner emerging at -21, -23 and -23.
Expert Pick #1 – Scottie Scheffler Top 10 Finish @+275
Scottie Scheffler, who comes into this tournament off the back of producing a fantastic display on debut at the Ryder Cup, claiming 2.5 out of a possible three points, is hard to avoid this week.
Twice a winner on the Korn Ferry Tour, the 25-year-old enjoyed a fantastic campaign last season, going close on several occasions, and now as he ranks 22nd in the world, looks like a PGA Tour winner waiting to happen. Supporting the University of Texas graduate to emerge victorious in Las Vegas this week is far from the worst option, but taking him to finish inside the top ten is the best bet at a slightly generous-looking +275.
With plenty of distance in his locker, as one of the better players on tour in terms of gaining strokes off the tee, Scheffler ought to enjoy the open, attacking nature of this track, and the man whose game looked in top-top shape at Whistling Straits a fortnight ago is fancied to add to the eight top tens that he recorded during the previous season.
Fedex Cup Rank: 22 | Fedex Cup Points: -3 | OWGR: 22
Approx. Start Time: e.g. 2:30 p.m. ET
Expert Pick #2 – Matthew Wolff Top 20 Finish @+250
Having stormed onto the scene in 2020, posting a string of strong finishes, including T4 at the PGA Championship, Matt Wolff, who is yet another top-tier talent to come off the US conveyor belt, went off the boil slightly last term, but his game looked to be tuned up and ready to go at the Sanderson Farm last week.
Three sub-70 rounds and a T17 finish was a great way for the 22-year-old to start the campaign, while it was the perfect way to warm up ahead of a tournament that he’s done well in before. Back in 2019, Wolff finished 18th at TPC Summerlin, before building on that solid effort to finish second when the tournament was last run in 2020. Such form, coupled with his encouraging effort last week, makes the man who was the fourth biggest hitter on tour last season, a solid top-20 option at odds of +250.
Fedex Cup Rank: 38 | Fedex Cup Points: 43 | OWGR: 47
Approx. Start Time: e.g. 2:30 p.m. ET
Expert Pick #3 – Matthew NeSmith @+3300
One-time Korn Ferry Tour winner Matthew NeSmith is still looking for his first win on the PGA Tour, but we shouldn’t read too much into that as his involvement at the highest level has been minimal.
The 28-year-old has been a regular in this event for the last two seasons and TPC Summerlin seems to be a track that suits the South Carolina man, who looks somewhat overpriced for a top-20 finish. A very solid T18 finish in 2019 was built on in 2020, when NeSmith tied for eighth. Those admirable efforts have left him as the third best player in this field in terms of strokes gained: total at this track in the last five seasons.
It’s likely that we’ve not yet seen the best of Matthew NeSmith and a promising performance at a venue where he’s thrived not once, but twice in recent years, could quite easily act as a stepping stone to better things. Bettors looking for a juicy top-20 play might be hard pushed to find a more suitable value option, that’s for sure.
Fedex Cup Rank: 85 | Fedex Cup Points: 7 | OWGR: 238
Approx. Start Time: e.g. 2:30 p.m. ET
2021 Shriners Children’s Odds
*Odds as of Tuesday at 6:00 p.m. ET
| Player | Odds |
| Viktor Hovland | +2000 |
| Scottie Scheffler | +2200 |
| Abraham Ancer | +2200 |
| Will Zalatoris | +2500 |
| Sam Burns | +2500 |
| Brooks Koepka | +2500 |
| Webb Simpson | +2800 |
| Kevin Na | +3000 |
| Louis Oosthuizen | +3000 |
| Sungjae Im | +3000 |
The Shriners Children’s Open presents players with the opportunity to get on the front foot. The scoring has been low in recent years and there’s little reason to think those in attendance will be in store for anything different this time around. Off the back of playing some sensational stuff in victory against Jon Rahm to round off what was a solid individual performance at the Ryder Cup, winner-in-waiting Scottie Scheffler can go close, while both Matthew Wolff and Matthew NeSmith have course form that suggests they too can position themselves highly on the leaderboard.
