The annual PGA Tour trip to Las Vegas is a one off this year with players gathering for the Shriners Children’s Open this week. Things heat up with several Presidents Cup participants from both sides teeing it up at TPC Summerlin. One of those is defending champ Sungjae Im, who kept the International Team afloat a few weeks ago. There is competition at the top of the outright odds board with Patrick Cantlay leading the way followed by Im and Max Homa as the only players with shorter than 20/1 odds. Low scores have been plentiful and this week shouldn’t be different. The past three winners were 23-under or better with Im matching a tournament record last year. The competition will be stiff making for interesting matchups. Be sure to visit BookMaker.eu for a complete list of betting odds when you’re ready to place a wager.
Shriners Children’s Open Matchup Odds
Patrick Cantlay -147 vs. Sungjae Im +117
Patrick Cantlay -183 vs. Max Homa +145
Sungjae Im -139 vs. Max Homa +109
Tom Kim +168 vs. Aaron Wise -214
Tom Kim +106 vs. Taylor Montgomery -136
Aaron Wise -173 vs. Taylor Montgomery +137
Brian Harman -142 vs. Cameron Davis +112
Brian Harman -124 vs. Emiliano Grillo -106
Cameron Davis +100 vs. Emiliano Grillo -130
Alex Noren -155 vs. Taylor Pendrith +124
Alex Noren -149 vs. Tom Hoge +119
Taylor Pendrith -107 vs. Tom Hoge -123
Denny McCarthy -145 vs. Davis Riley +115
Christiaan Bezuidenhout -130 vs. Mito Pereira +100
Maverick McNealy -155 vs. Seamus Power +124
Thomas Detry -109 vs. Dean Burmester -121
Rickie Fowler -103 vs. Matt Kuchar -127
Keith Mitchell -116 vs. JT Poston -114
Adam Hadwin -130 vs. Taylor Moore +100
K.H. Lee +107 vs. Kurt Kitayama -137
Chris Kirk -175 vs. Ryan Palmer +139
Lucas Herbert +101 vs. Gary Woodland -131
Mark Hubbard -145 vs. Stephan Jaeger +115
J.J. Spaun +101 vs. Troy Merritt -131
Aaron Rai -172 vs. Matt Wallace +137
Russell Knox -108 vs. Martin Laird -122
Wyndham Clark -141 vs. Joel Dahmen +111
Kevin Streelman -143 vs. Jason Day +113
Nick Taylor -111 vs. Nick Hardy -119
Beau Hossler -151 vs. Cameron Champ +121
Adam Svensson -120 vs. Callum Tarren -110
Harris English +101 vs. Stewart Cink -131
Need to Know
TPC Summerlin plays 7,255 yards at par 71 and doesn’t offer much resistance. If the weather cooperates scores will plummet and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see -20 or better at the top of the leaderboard again. The previous four winners all carded 21-under or better with Im matching Webb Simpson’s -24 from 2013. The hard part is predicting which player has that score since the field is the deepest we’ve seen in the early season. Some say course experience is a bigger factor than course form. But knowing how to play altitude and wind will easily make up a few strokes. The elevation shortens the track and also levels the playing field and we’re likely to see more irons with an emphasis put on placement over distance.
Shriners Children’s Open Matchup Picks
Martin Laird -122 vs. Russell Knox
Under normal circumstances I would steer clear of Laird based on recent form. But these aren’t normal times. Taking his history at TPC Summerlin into account it’s probably not a bad idea to back Laird despite his price. Some players just perform better on certain tracks and this is one of Laird’s favorite. Laird is one of only three players with multiple victories in the 40-year history of the tournament and he’s 11 for 13 in his career. His second title was two years ago and he followed that with a T11.
Thomas Detry -109 vs. Dean Burmester
Between the DP World Tour and PGA Tour Detry has strung some nice finishes together recently making him a shrewd pick in this matchup. Over his last eight overall starts six of them resulted in top-15s, including his last four beginning with a T12 at the Euro circuit’s Cazoo Open. He followed with a T5 at the BMW PGA Championship and opened the new season T12-T9. I’ll take the risk and back the first-timer based on his solid play for months.
Taylor Pendrith -107 vs. Tom Hoge
It’s been a whirlwind for Pendrith since coming back from an injury absence and the week off was needed to recharge the batteries. He closed last season finishing among the top-13 in five of his final six events before representing the International Team at the Presidents Cup. He played a lot of golf upon his return and fatigue was a likely contributor to his poor outing in Napa. Pendrith has the game suited for the TPC Summerlin layout and looks to build off his opening 65 at last year’s event.
Taylor Montgomery +137 vs. Aaron Wise
This can go one of two ways for Montgomery and I’m banking on the more positive outcome. A stud on the Korn Ferry Tour, he’s made a seamless transition to the PGA side as the only player with top-10s in the first two tournaments of the season. Going back to July on the KFT, the Las Vegas native has six straight top-10s and gets a home game this week. I just can’t resist backing him at this price.
Sungjae Im +117 vs. Patrick Cantlay
Both players have owned the course during their careers making this a difficult matchup pick. I was surprised at the posted odds, but given Cantlay’s extended history of success the numbers make sense. However, always looking for value Im is the choice and I can’t go wrong with the defending champ owning two additional top-15s and a lifetime 66.50 scoring average over 12 rounds.
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