The Shriners Children’s Open is the third PGA Tour event of the season and the first of a pair of back-to-back tournaments taking place in Las Vegas. Sam Burns won last week’s Sanderson Farms Championship for his second career victory on the PGA Tour.
Martin Laird is the defending Shriners Children’s Open champion, defeating Austin Cook and Matthew Wolff by sinking a 23-foot birdie putt on the second playoff hole. The trio finished the tournament tied at 23 under par 261, one stroke off the record shared by Ryan Moore and Webb Simpson.
TPC Summerlin plays at 7,255 yards, and the par 71 layout traditionally yields low scores, with two players posting scores of 60 during tournament play. Tiger Woods posted his first of 82 career Tour wins at the course in 1996 when he defeated Davis Love III in a playoff.
The first winner of the Shriners Children’s Open was Fuzzy Zoeller in 1983, and he has since been joined by a number of major champions, including Curtis Strange, Greg Norman, Jim Furyk, Davis Love III, Woods, and Bryson DeChambeau, among others. This year, four-time major winner Brooks Koepka leads eight other major winners that are in the field.
Betting Odds
Koepka is the betting odds leader along with Abraham Ancer at +1600. Former U.S. Open champion Webb Simpson and past Open Championship winner Louis Oosthuizen are next at +1800 with a big group of players +2200, including Ryder Cup competitors Harris English, Scottie Scheffler, and Viktor Hovland, along with Rookie of the Year Will Zalatoris and last week’s winner Burns.
Names farther down the list include Patrick Reed, who was passed over for the Ryder Cup by captain Steve Stricker in favor of Scheffler, and Matthew Wolff at +4000. Rickie Fowler, who is looking to end a two-year slump after missing the playoffs for the first time in his career, will make his season debut with odds of +8000.
Sahith Theegala, who took a one-shot lead into last week’s final round before tying for eighth following a closing 71, has odds of +10000. Defending champion Laird is at +15000 while veteran Matt Kuchar and two-time major champion Ryder Cup vice-captain Zach Johnson are at +18000.
Underdog Betting Picks
Patrick Reed should be playing with a big chip on his shoulder after missing out on a Ryder Cup opportunity, despite returning to full strength following serious health issues that kept him out of the second playoff event. At +4000 to win and +350 odds to finish in the top 10, he’s definitely worth wagering consideration.
Theegala played well last week and showed for three rounds that he could go low on another course that yields a lot of birdies. He wouldn’t be the first player to come back after a disappointing finish to grab his initial PGA Tour victory.
With a final round 65, Nick Watney had his best finish in some time, tying Cameron Young in the runner-up spot at the Sanderson Farms Championship. The five-time PGA Tour winner hasn’t posted a victory since 2012, but at +15000, he could deliver a big payday if the 40-year-old can build on last week’s strong showing.
