The Shriners Open has begun, and with a rather stacked field in Vegas this week, the best in the field rose to the top early. Scores were great today, with the average coming in just a shade lower than 2.8 under.
PGA DFS Showdown Picks: Shriners Open Round 2
Morning Wave
Viktor Hovland got off to a blazing start, birding his first three, but he struggled coming in. Sungjae Im posted a solid 8-under 63, while Charley Hoffman’s putting and iron game propelled him to the same score. Chad Ramey gained through the bag in Round 1 en route to his own 63. Then Talor Gooch and Chesson Hadley were 7 under. Gooch was the only member in the top 16 to lose strokes putting in Round 1.
Afternoon Wave
Matthew Wolff had a 7-under 64 today, and Brandon Hagy shot 66. Anirban Lahiri is the only golfer in the top 17 to lose strokes on the approach in Round 1.
Notables
Louis Oosthuizen gained about a stroke and a half in Round 1. He added another 2.2 ball striking for an opening round 65. Brooks Koepka, on the other hand, found absolutely nothing on the greens, losing almost two strokes in Round 1. He will need to make few more putts tomorrow morning to ensure he is around for four days. Scottie Scheffler and Harris English had some Ryder Cup hangover in Round 1, with Scheffler shooting 3 over and English 1 over. Sam Burns also stayed hot in Round 1, shooting a 4-under 66.
Round 1 Stat Recap
Strokes Gained Tee to Green
- Talor Gooch
- Sung Kang
- Sungjae Im
- Matthew Wolff
- Adam Hadwin
Strokes Gained Off the Tee
- Brooks Koepka
- Joel Dahmen
- Maverick McNealy
- Scott Stallings
- Carlos Ortiz
Strokes Gained on Approach
- Sung Kang
- Charley Hoffman
- Chesson Hadley
- Bronson Burgoon
- Peter Malnati
Strokes Gained Around the Green
- Talor Gooch
- Rasmus Hojgaard
- Jonas Blixt
- Curtis Thompson
- Adam Hadwin
Strokes Gained Putting
- Sam Ryder
- Adam Long
- Taylor Moore
- Adam Schenk
- Kevin Kisner
Shriners Open Round 2 DraftKings Slate Preview
- Lock Time: 8:05 a.m. ET
- Grand Prize: DraftKings offers $10,000 to first place and $35 000 guaranteed for the second-round slate.
PGA DFS DraftKings Showdown Picks
It sure seems that the golfers teeing off in the morning will have the easier set of conditions as the wind is expected to be blowing at an average rate of 20 miles per hour all afternoon.
- Brooks Koepka ($10,200): Gaining over two strokes off the tee is not something to snuff at, and a quick turnaround should benefit Koepka. His history at this tournament is either missing the cut or making the top five. One way to bet on the latter is to play him in Round 2; with good weather conditions, it should be a great spot for him to move up the leaderboard.
- Matthew Wolff ($7,800): Gaining strokes almost everywhere, Wolff’s ball-striking game is seemingly back. His putter was not hot in Round 1, preventing him from getting up to Sung Kang, but Wolff will get the first crack at him tomorrow morning.
- Russell Henley ($7,700): Henley starts his season right where he left of last one, gaining almost three strokes with his irons. But his putter was cold in Round 1, which has not been his norm lately. With his irons in form, all he needs is a hot putting day, and he tees off nice and early tomorrow morning.
- Brandon Hagy ($6,300): Hagy gained two strokes ball striking and another 1.36 with his putter. There is not much around the green work needed here, so if those stats stay intact, Hagy should hang around the top 10 all week.
Thanks for reading to the end of this article! If you appreciate this free content and want to see more of it every day, you can help us out by sharing this article on social media!
[PGAPAGE]
