2014-2015 Shriners Hospitals For Children Open Fantasy Sleeper Picks

By Danny Norris | Oct 14, 2014

The PGA Tour will be back in familiar territory this week with the Shriners Hospitals For Children Open. The Shriners Open takes place in Las Vegas, Nevada at the TPC Summerlin. A very favorable, fan-friendly scoring course, as we’ll see some of the best players reach or be knocking at the door of 20-under.

Last week, there were a lot of unknowns, but in terms of the picks we did pretty good considering the circumstances. This week should be better as there is more familiarity and there aren’t many unknowns.

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The weather looks to be perfect for all four days, and we have a pretty solid field which gives us some pretty nice choices to choose from on the cheap end. With that, let’s get to some of the picks this week at the Shriners Open.

Scott Piercy – Scott Piercy had a lost year this past season. Piercy injured his forearm and missed a significant portion of the season. However, he came back late in the year and played really well.

Piercy made the cut in two of the three tournaments he played in including a T-12 at Wyndham and the only cut he didn’t make was at the PGA Championship. Which isn’t that big of deal this week as the field here at the Shriners Open isn’t anything like the PGA Championship.

Also, Piercy has a really solid track history at TPC Sumerlin. While he missed the cut here last year, aside from that, he has typically been in contention. In 2012 he finished T-6, 2011: T-10, 2010: T-28, and 2009: T-14.

With him not playing much and struggling last year, plus the fact that he missed the cut last week at the Frys.com Open; I would wager that the vast majority of people are sleeping on Piercy this week. Which could end up being detrimental to their fantasy team as Piercy may end up being that out of nowhere pick this week.

Brendan Steele – It’d be a bit silly of me to not include Brendan Steele as a sleeper pick this week. Given the fact that he meets the criteria and given the fact that I am picking him to win here at TPC Summerlin.

As I mentioned last week, I thought Steele was undervalued and he was. Steele ended up making the cut at the Frys.com Open and finishing in a tie for 21st. As I also mentioned last week, Steele is the kind of player that is going to be solid week in and week out especially early on in the year.

Steele is a very solid player and is once again undervalued. And as an added bonus, Steele has played well at the Shriners Open. Last year he finished T-57; nothing to write home about, but in 2012 he finished T-16 and 2011: T-13. Look for Steele to be right in the thick of things once again this week.

Daniel Summerhays – Daniel Summerhays is one of the better PGA Tour players without a win in his career and he probably won’t get a win this week, but he looks like a really valuable pick up this week.

Summerhays is a very consistent player. He only missed five cuts in 27 tournaments last year and continued to get better and better. I gotta think that he’ll finally get off the schnide and get that elusive first win. Maybe not this week, but somewhere down the road.

As he gets better and better overall, he’s gotten better and better here at the Shriners Open. Going back to the last three years, in 2011, Summerhays missed the cut. In 2012, Summerhays finished T-36, and last year he finished T-23. This maybe the year he breaks into the top ten.

Jhonatthan Vegas– I mentioned Vegas last week as a potential sleeper pick and he didn’t come through. He missed the cut, but as we talked about last week he’s a boom or bust player. One week he’ll miss the cut, the next he’ll finish in the top ten.

Given his style of play it maybe worth playing Vegas. Plus, last week was more a less a guessing given that there was no course history to go on. This week, we do have course history and that familiarity may just be the thing Vegas needs. He’s made the cut the last three years at the Shriners Open including a T-5 in 2011. Plus, how can you not go with someone like Johnny Vegas who’s playing in Las Vegas this week?