The PGA TOUR season brings us to Las Vegas this week to play the Shriners Children’s Open. TPC Summerlin is a par 71 measuring 7,255 yards and features fast bentgrass greens.
The field is relatively strong this week, with 11 of the top 25 golfers in the world expected to make the trip to Las Vegas. Those golfers include Brooks Koepka, Louis Oosthuizen, Sungjae Im, Hideki Matsuyama, Viktor Hovland, Webb Simpson, Patrick Reed and Will Zalatoris.
This week, we’ll focus on building teams for GPP contests on DraftKings. I will be breaking down the key stats (past 24 rounds) and selecting golfers from different price tiers to provide flexibility for a DFS lineup. You can utilize our Lineup Builder to effortlessly create up to 150 lineups.
Don’t forget about the other tools that FantasyLabs has to offer, such as the Trends tool and PGA Correlation Dashboard.
This analysis may reference Strokes Gained, a set of proprietary metrics generated by the PGA TOUR using millions of data points to calculate how many shots on average it takes a player to get the ball in the hole from every distance and situation. Strokes Gained is now available in the FantasyLabs PGA Models.
Strokes Gained: Approach
Strokes Gained: Approach ranks out as the most predictive statistic for TPC Summerlin. Last year’s winner Martin Laird was excellent in this category, gaining 6.5 strokes on approach, which was fourth-best in the field.
- High-end target: Viktor Hovland – $10,600 (4th SG:APP)
- Mid-range target: Paul Casey – $8,900 (1st SG: APP)
- Value Target: Adam Svensson – $6,200 (3rd SG: APP)
Fairways Gained
TPC Summerlin ranks in the top 10 of courses in which driving accuracy is most important. The course isn’t very difficult but can pose a challenge for those wild off the tee. Of the golfers who consistently play well here, the most common theme is accuracy off the tee.
- High-end target: Abraham Ancer – $10,400 (10th Fairways Gained)
- Mid-range target: Corey Conners – $8,800 (4th Fairways Gained)
- Value Target: Aaron Rai – $6,500 (6th Fairways Gained)
Strokes Gained: Putting (Bentgrass greens+Fast)
Looking at past leaderboards at the Shriners, it’s obvious that bentgrass specialists seem to perform very well at TPC Summerlin. Na, DeChambeau, and Cantlay all putt better on bentgrass and have been excellent here in the past. Kevin Na gained an absurd 14.2 strokes putting en route to his victory in 2019.
- High-end target: Abraham Ancer – $10,400 (1st Strokes Gained: Putting Bent+Fast)
- Mid-range target: Cameron Tringale – $8,500 (5th Strokes Gained: Putting Bent+Fast)
- Value Target: Brandt Snedeker– $6,600 (2nd Strokes Gained: Putting Bent+Fast)
Birdie or Better: Gained
While TPC Summerlin does present a few challenges, scoring is generally relatively easy at the course; it ranks in the bottom 25% of courses on TOUR in terms of difficulty. Four of the past five winners have finished with a score of -20 or better. Additionally, with DraftKings scoring placing such a high emphasis on birdies and eagles, getting these golfers in your lineups will be essential.
- High-end target: Webb Simpson – $10,200 (1st in Birdie or Better)
- Mid-range target: Matthew Wolff – $7,900 (4th in Birdie or Better)
- Value Target: Sam Ryder – $6,300 (6th in Birdie or Better)
Course History
One strategy that may pay off for DFS players is targeting golfers who have previously played the course well. The past two winners of this tournament have also won the event in the past.
- High-end target: Webb Simpson – $10,200 (1st Strokes Gained: Total at TPC Summerlin)
- Mid-range target: Patton Kizzire – $7,800 (3rd Strokes Gained: Total at TPC Summerlin)
- Value Target: Ryan Moore – $7,000 (2nd Strokes Gained: Total at TPC Summerlin)
Photo Credit: Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images
Pictured: Abraham Ancer
