This is the first installment in our weekly fantasy golf content for DraftKings, FanDuel, and SuperDraft, breaking down the best PGA DFS picks and everything you need to know for the Shriners Hospital for Children Open.
If this is your first time reading the article, or you’ve forgotten all about PGA DFS, then I’ll give you a quick summary of what’s to come:
- Tournament Intro
- Course Breakdown and PGA DFS Sweatsheet
- Player Preview
- Statistical Preview
PGA DFS Picks & Fantasy Golf: The Shriners Hospital for Children Open
The two-week “Vegas Swing” starts this week with the best field at the Shriners Hospital for Children Open we’ve had in some time. Almost half of the world’s top 30 are here to compete, with the biggest name in golf as the headliner, Bryson DeChambeau. The two-week swing in Sin City will finish next week with the C.J. Cup being played at Shadow Creek Golf Course, with all of the worlds best scheduled to compete. But first, it’s the Shriners, and a strong field awaits.
The Tournament
A staple of the PGA Tour since the early ’80s, this great tournament, charity and hospital, provides some great exposure to its beneficiaries. The tournament itself has changed names, sponsors and even format a bit, as it started as a five-day tournament played at various courses around the area. For those familiar with the golf in Vegas, some of the courses were TPC Las Vegas (formerly TPC Canyons), Las Vegas Country Club, Sunrise Golf Club, Wildhorse Golf Club and many more. The tournament has been using the Shriners tag in its name since 2007, first with Frys.com, then with Justin Timberlake for five years before it became what it’s known now as the Shriners Hospital for Children Open. Now at TPC Summerlin, a staple course on many golf video games over the years.
The Course: TPC Summerlin
To the desert we go, to a course has been around for almost 30 years. It was designed by Bobby Weed. For the tournament, it’s played as a par 71, measuring just shy of 7,300 yards. The final four holes provide some of the most exciting finishing holes on the PGA Tour, as the 15th is a drivable par 4, followed by the 16th, a reachable par 5. Two easy holes to bring you back into the tournament before heading to the challenging finishing holes: the par-3 17th and par-4 18th finishing hole. Let’s learn a bit more about the course below.
Tournament Format
There are 144 golfers with a cut after 36 holes and the top 65 and ties making the cut
Course Facts & Figures
Par and Yardage
- Par 71: 7,300 yards
Course Difficulty
- 38/49 or -1.631 or (69.479)
Hole Dispersion
- Four Par 3’s: 197, 239, 168, 196
- Eleven Par 4’s: 406, 469, 492, 450, 430, 382, 420, 448, 442, 444
- Three Par 5’s: 563, 606, 560
Grass Types & Hazards
- Grass Type: Bentgrass greens, Bermuda grass fairways and rough
- Average Green Size: 7,400 sq ft. (above the average)
- Water Hazards: 4
- Bunkers: 92
- Rough Length: 2 inches
Designer
- Bobby Weed
Facts and Figures
- Off the Tee: The wider-than-average fairways here in Vegas proved to be relatively easy to hit. They ranked 18th easiest on tour last year, with a fairways-hit rate just shy of 64%. Also, it boasted the second-longest driving distance on tour, meaning DeChambeau should be 2-1 to win the tournament.
- Approach to the Green: Above-average fairways hit with the second-longest driving distance on tour means that these greens are some of the easiest to hit, coming in at just over 74% last year. That ranked sixth easiest on tour last year.
- Around the Green: The 26% of the time a golfer missed the green, he struggled to get up and down. The scrambling average was 53%, one of the top 10 toughest on the PGA Tour.
- On the Green: One of the reasons that around the green is difficult is likely because the greens provide the protection for the course. It ranked seventh hardest in terms of overall putting average.
Sweatsheet
The scoring on this course, or at least for DFS purposes, is backloaded. Sixty percent of the scoring is on the final nine holes. Furthermore, 38% of the total scoring comes from holes 13-16. In total three par 5’s and one drivable par 4 equal about 50% of the scoring this week. The best chance for a streak will come on holes 13-16 with two par 5’s and the drivable par 4 in them.
Player Preview
After a two-week stint with less-than-ideal fields, we have the strongest field ever at a Shriners. Almost half of the worlds top 30 are here — 12 to be exact. That includes three golfers inside the world’s top 10. DeChambeau will look for back-to-back wins, and Patrick Cantlay will look to continue his impressive course history here at TPC Summerlin. He’s finished first, second and second in his last three stops here. Webb Simpson returns to play and is joined by the young stars of the game, Matthew Wolff and Collin Morikawa. Lastly, Francesco Molinari, the long-lost Italian, is finally back and is scheduled to tee it up for the first time since the WGC Mexico back in February. In fact, Molinari made zero cuts last year in tournaments that had one.
Related PGA DFS Content
- The Awesemo YouTube Channel— Shriners Open First Look Strategy Show
- The First Cut: Shriners Hospital for Children Open l DraftKings + FanDuel PGA DFS Preview
Previous Winners and Cutline for the Sanderson Farms Championship
- 2019: Kevin Na (-23), -4
- 2018: Bryson DeChambeau (-21), -3
- 2017: Patrick Cantlay (-9), +1
- 2016: Rod Pampling (-20), -3
- 2015: Smylie Kaufman (-16), -2
Statistical Comparison for PGA DFS Picks
Driving Accuracy vs. Driving Distance
DeChambeau’s game has morphed into an all-power show. Before that, he boasted a game similar to that of Cantlay’s off the tee: Above-average distance with above-average accuracy. Kevin Na is the anomaly here, as the other two golfers, during a time in which both were considered quality golfers, were also along the lines of Cantlay and DeChambeau. In summary, I think it’s easy to say a mixture of both accuracy and distance is the key this week — as it is most weeks, but this one has a noticeably larger feel to that.
Strokes Gained Tee to Green Analysis
Last year featured an incredibly rare feat where the winner of the golf tournament ended up losing strokes tee to green. Na gained just about 1.5 total strokes on his approaches, however. It was his putter that won him the tourney. The other four winners all finished in the top 12 in strokes gained tee to green, with DeChambeau and Rod Pampling leading the field. Both Cantlay and Smylie Kaufman led the field in strokes gained off the tee as well. Only Pampling was found himself in the top 10 in strokes gained around the green, however. I would lean towards ball striking here this week, with a heavier emphasis on off the tee.
Putting; How good do they need to be here?:
Na is one of the best putters in the world, and last year proved that it can still be a winning formula on the PGA Tour.
Old Age vs. New Age
For this section, I’m going to pick the most important statistic from the new age (strokes gained) vs. old age (greens in regulation, driving accuracy) and give you the top 10 in each category.
Current Week Stats
- New Age: Strokes Gained off the Tee
- Old Age: Driving Distance
Check back for updates throughout the week for any news and or field changes! Good luck this week & make sure you check out the rest of our awesemo fantasy golf and PGA DFS content!
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