The PGA Tour will tee off this week with the The Shriners Open at TPC Summerlin in Las Vegas, NV. Many top golfers won’t be participating but there are still tons of ways to play the field. How will it all shake out? WagerTalk golf handicapper Andy Lang shares his thoughts on the field with betting tips, DFS recommendations and players to avoid.
The Shriners Open Course | TPC Summerlin
This weeks tournament takes us to Las Vegas for the Shriners Open where low scoring will be the name of the game this week. The wind is the biggest defense that this tournament could have, and it looks calm so expect the winning score to be -20 or even into the mid -20s. There are quite a few bunkers in play at this course, and driving the ball accurately is really important as missing the fairways creates really difficult approach shots. My only bet last week was Eric Cole to finish Top 20, and his atrocious driving accuracy number tanked his tournament, and the same thing can happen this week. The Par 5’s are gettable in two shots for everyone, and don’t be surprised if we see a -9 round this week. I couldn’t find any good videos or photos of all the holes so I don’t have any featured holes to go over, but guys will have to play the Par 5s in -9 or better to win I believe.
Top 10 Total Strokes Gained Last 6 Months
- Ludvig Aberg +1.4
- Tom Kim +1.34
- Emiliano Grillo +1.27
- Eric Cole +1.20
- Cameron Davis +1.20
- JT Poston +1.19
- Adam Schenk +1.09
- Vincent Norrman +0.99
- Mark Hubbard +0.99
- Andrew Putnam +0.98
Players to Avoid
Nicolai Hojgaard – He got good publicity for being at on the European Team at The Ryder Cup, and for good reason as he played great to finish the season, and now he’s the 7th highest priced favorite this week, and I think this course may cause him issues. Driving accuracy is important at this course, and he’s one of the more inaccurate drivers in the field. He can drive the ball a mile, but at elevation, every golfer will drive the ball long this week. He’s not a great putter, and he’s bad around the green. I just don’t think he sets up well for this course, and you’re paying a steep price to invest in him.
Luke List -Huge win for Luke List last week in the playoff, but that was a performance that will be tough to repeat. He was +6 strokes gained putting last week, but over the last 6 months he’s -0.15 strokes gained putting. It’s rare when List gets a hot putter for a tournament, but when he does he has potential to win, but that win was his first top 10 finish since January of 2022 when we won at the Farmers Open where again…he putted lights out. After that win he went on to finish outside the top 50 six straight tournaments, and since he’s missed the cut here the last two times he’s played here I won’t be betting on him.
Eric Cole – I lost a bet on Cole last week due to his inaccuracies off the tee, and he missed the cut here last year, and he could miss the cut again if he drives the ball like he did last week. He only hit 32% of fairways last week, and I can’t bet on him this week because if he does that again, he won’t come close to returning top seven value, which is where he has to finish. I won’t play him in head to heads or draftkings, he’s overvalued this week.
The Shriners Open DFS Darlings
Chad Ramey ($7,000) – He won’t blow you away with finishes, but he’s made the cut in eight out of nine tournaments, including 16th and 19th the last two tournaments with easier fields. He plays good here as he’s finished 28th and 14th the last two years.
Matthew NeSmith ($7,100) – He doesn’t have great numbers, but he LOVES playing here. The last four years here, he’s finished 2nd, 14th, 8th and 18th. I can’t ignore that course history so he’ll be in my lineup.
Matt Wallace ($7,500) – He’s not great on the PGA Tour, but he’s made the cut in four out of the last five PGA tournaments with the missed cut at The Open Championship ironically since he’s made the cut in every Euro event this season. He’s finished 14th and 28th here the last two years, if he performs similar to those finished this is a bargain.
The Shriners Open Betting Notes
- JT Poston is the #1 putter in this field over the last 6 months, and finished 20th here last year.
- Adam Hadwin is the only golfer in the field to finish Top 10 here the last two years. His last four finishes are 10th, 6th, 34th, 4th.
- Current form or Course history? Adam Svensson has played here three times, 69th, MC, MC. However, he finished 16th last week, and finished 15th, 37th, 7th, 37th to end the 2023 season.