2017 Shriners Hospitals for Children Open Fantasy Preview
Another early season matchup with a weak field will be the feature tournament this week on the PGA Tour as many of the top names take some time off after a few weeks in Asia.
The Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, formally the Las Vegas Invitational, was founded in 1983 and is played annually in “Sin City.” Typically this is a week for some of the younger players and journeymen to take home a trophy with the absence of the top echelon of golfers in the world.
The current host for the yearly outing is TPC at Summerlin, a par-71, 7,235-yard course which sits just outside of Vegas among a desert backdrop. It will be blast seeing some of the more obscure names in the sport make their way to the top of the leaderboard during this showdown.
Webb Simpson watches his tee shot on the 17th hole during the third…
Webb Simpson watches his tee shot on the 17th hole during the third round of the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open at TPC Summerlin on October 19, 2013 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Get premium, high Resolution News Photos at Getty Images
Although there is not typically a large contingency of high-end talent here, a few big names have been able to etch their names into the trophy in the past; including the likes of Tiger Woods (1996), Jim Furyk (1995, 1998, 1999), Kevin Na (2011), Ryan Moore (2012), and Webb Simpson (2014). The past two seasons has seen a stark contrast in age differences topping the field as then 23-year-old Smylie Kaufman earned his first and only PGA TOUR victory in 2015 by a single stroke over a group of six runner-up finishers while 47-year-old Rod Pampling defeated Brooks Koepka by a pair of strokes last year for his third TOUR victory and first since 2006.
Kaufman’s score of 16-under was quite unusual for this event as he and Martin Laird (2009) are the only two Las Vegas winners to card a number worse than 20-under since the tournament changed from 90 holes to 72 in 2004. Pampling had one of the best rounds of his life to open last year’s installment, going 12-under-par with a 60, and was able to come back on Lucas Glover over the final day to put his recent woes behind him.
With each of the top players in the world choosing to sit this one out, the likes of Tony Finau, Webb Simpson, and Anirban Lahiri lead the pack. Each of these players have had some past success on TOUR, with Finau winning the Puerto Rico Open last year and earning a top-20 in four of his last seven major starts, Simpson possessing four PGA TOUR trophies, and Lahiri winning twice overseas while being a member of two President’s Cup teams and an Olympic participant.
Some other big names who have been struggling will be attempting to right the ship as major winners Bubba Watson and Jimmy Walker enter the field. Ryan Armour comes in as the winner from last week in the Sanderson Farms Championship opposite the WGC event.
It’s always a good time to play when the field features so many golfers attempting to get back on the map or make a name for themselves for the first time. FanDuel will once again provide a fantastic platform to explore these players and allow you to become invested in what would otherwise be a pretty uneventful tournament to keep an eye on. These early season events are also the perfect spot for a player to get his first win, so be sure to take some chances on golfers who have yet to find the winner’s circle in the past.
Below is a group of players we believe set up well to play four rounds of solid golf this week and provide you the value and ceiling needed to compete in both cash games and tournaments.
Shriners Hospitals for Children Open FanDuel Fantasy Picks
Tony Finau – $9,900 – Finau is the clear-cut guy to put up a huge number this week with his recent success and ability to gain strokes with his immense driver. The 28-year-old has done nothing but post impressive outings since joining the TOUR for his first full season in 2015, and since that time is 68-for-91 in cuts made (75%) with his best year coming in 2016-17.
Over the course of last season, Finau gained a total of 1.147 strokes on the field (11th on TOUR) in part due to his combo of length off the tee (309.2 yards per, 10th on TOUR) and accuracy with greens in regulation (68.96%, 17th on TOUR). He absolutely torched par fives to the tune of 52.48% birdies or better (5th on TOUR) and overall was able to score on 23.02% of his holes played (10th on TOUR) while bouncing back from a bogey or worse 23.74% of the time (17th on TOUR).
Finau has continued his success in the new campaign with a trio of visits to the weekend and nearly added to his 2016 Puerto Rico Open win with a runner-up showing at the Safeway Open. It is obvious that this tall, athletic golfer stands out amongst his peers in these weaker field events and he should be a force in Vegas over the coming days.
Tony Finau poses with the trophy after winning the Puerto Rico Open…
Tony Finau poses with the trophy after winning the Puerto Rico Open at Coco Beach on March 27, 2016 in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico. Get premium, high resolution news photos at Getty Images
Gary Woodland – $9,000 – Woodland often goes overlooked, but he is a fantastic play this week in cash games due to his overall success of late; ranking in the top 60 of the FedExCup standings with a mere eight cuts missed since the start of the 2016 seasons (85%).
Although he has not been able to win since 2013, he has tallied six runner-ups in the past four years and gone for 18 top-10s over that stretch. None of those have come at this event, though, as he has not played the course before, but last year he proved he can rake against this type of field after posting a 19-under in the OHL Classic where he came away with one of his runner-up finishes.
Woodland’s strength comes from getting on the green in regulation (69.48% last year, 11th on TOUR) and being able to get out of the sand (60.68% sand saves last year, 10th on TOUR) to keep from having blowup holes. He is bound to get another win on TOUR before his career winds down and this is an ideal situation.
Kevin Chappell – $8,500 – Chappell will make his debut this week and he has a lot of expectations after his found success over the last two seasons. He has ranked no worse than 104th in the FedExCup standings during each of his seven seasons, but really catapulted himself up the rankings with four runner-ups and a final standing of 13th a few years ago and finished 30th last year behind his first career victory at the Valero Texas Open.
The 31-year-old now has 13 top-10s in the past two years and will be coming off the high of participating on the President’s Cup team for the first time. Chappell is not one that will go out there and blow away the field with pure talent and strength, but he is able to continue finding success with his all-around game; ranking in the top-50 of strokes-gained off the tee (0.392, 33rd on TOUR), from tee-to-green (0.774, 29th on TOUR), and managed a total of 12 eagles last year (9th on TOUR).
Chappell’s track record is enough to play him at this price among a field of many other unknowns.
Kevin Streelman – $7,300 – Streelman is another veteran who has continued to play well and once again finished within the top-85 of the FedExCup standings for the fifth consecutive year in 2016-17. For the second consecutive campaign, the 38-year-old managed to get eight finishes within the top-25 and he is off to a hot start during the beginning parts of this year with a 13th at the Safeway Open and 10th in the Sanderson Farms Championship.
Thus far he has scored in the sixties in half of his eight rounds and nailed 79.17% of greens in regulation over the 144 holes of golf. Streelman has some of the most experience in this event and since 2009 has played here six times with four top-25s; including a runner-up in 2014 when he capped off the week with weekend rounds of 63 and 65. The experience will be a big plus as he looks to continue his nice start to the 2017-18 season.
Anirban Lahiri – $6,800 – Lahiri has just way too much success over the course of his career to not be mentioned at this price. Overall he has earned nine victories between the European and Asian Tours while also participating on two President’s Cup international teams and earning a spot in the Olympic Games. He has yet to really show off his talents in the United States, though, and this is great for fantasy as much of the crowd will be off him despite his immense talent.
After a pair of top-three performances over his 22 starts last year, Lahiri finished a career-best 61st in the FedExCup standings, and seems poised to improve on that mark over the coming year after a tie for tenth in the CIMB Classic followed by a top-five in the CJ Cup. This comes on the heels of a ninth at the BMW Championship and he has now shot 30 strokes better than par combined in his past three starts.
Lahiri is a proven winner in the golf world and this could be his stage to come out to the American crowds.
Anirban Lahiri of India plays a shot during Day One of the Maybank…
Anirban Lahiri of India plays a shot during Day One of the Maybank Championship Malaysia at Saujana Golf Club on February 9, 2017 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Get premium, high resolution news photos at Getty Images
James Hahn – $6,500 – Hahn used his 2015 victory at the Northern Trust Open to vault his career to new heights and although he was a virtual unknown then, he has turned things around and has done no worse than 53rd in the FedExCup during each of the last three seasons. Over that time he has been somewhat of a wildcard with 27 missed cuts in his 82 starts, but when making it to the weekend, he earned two wins and a total of 18 top-25s.
Despite not earning a trophy last year, Hahn enjoyed his most consistent season; including netting a 15th at this very course. His game may be pretty average across the board, but he made it all the way to the BMW Championship with a grind it out approach and should use his past success to outplay a majority of the field at Summerlin.
Chesson Hadley – $6,300 – As a baseball fans, we would refer to the play of Hadley as a quadruple-A player, meaning that he is dominant in the minor leagues, but has struggled to find success at the highest level. So far, he has earned four victories on the Web.Com TOUR, one of which came in mid-September at the Boise Open, and was the winner in the 2015 Puerto Rico Open, but had a mere five top-25s in 35 starts over his past two years.
It is possible that the 30-year-old has begun to put the pieces together, though, as he dominated the first two events of this year with a tie for third in the Safeway Open and runner-up finish at last week’s Sanderson Farms Championship. Over those eight rounds, he amassed 26 strokes better than par and included an immaculate Friday 61 in his third at the Safeway Open. Four of his last five starts between the two tours have resulted in a top-three and it would be no surprise to watch him match or improve on his fifth-place that he earned in 2013 on this very course.
Luke List – $5,600 – List is a guy we just can’t stop playing. His ceiling makes him a tremendous grab at this price in tournaments and we have no clue how he can continue to be so low with his recent success.
His 2016-17 season ended with a solid 20th at the BMW Championship after by far his best of three full campaigns on the PGA TOUR. List was 20-for-31 on cuts made (65%), had more top-25s (9) than he did over his first two seasons, and finished with a runner-up in the Sanderson Farms Championship and third at the Shell Houston Open. He has a huge driver which averaged 311.5 yards (4th on TOUR) which led to the most total eagles (18), a 54.46% birdie or better mark on par-fives (2nd on TOUR), and the ninth-best overall birdie or better percentage (23.19%). Surprisingly, he also was great on the shorter holes (17.42% birdie or better, 9th on TOUR) and had the ability to bounce back (23.55%, 23rd on TOUR).
Now he has started with three solid outings in 2017-18, including a tie for fifth most recently at the CJ Cup, and is an extreme value at this price.
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