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PGA Tour Fantasy Golf Preview: Shriners Hospitals For Children Open

By Hans Geevers

JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI - SEPTEMBER 22: Scottie Scheffler of the United States lines up a putt on the third green during the final round of the Sanderson Farms Championship at The Country Club of Jackson on September 22, 2019 in Jackson, Mississippi. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)
JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI - SEPTEMBER 22: Scottie Scheffler of the United States lines up a putt on the third green during the final round of the Sanderson Farms Championship at The Country Club of Jackson on September 22, 2019 in Jackson, Mississippi. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images) /
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The PGA Tour travels to Las Vegas for the Shriners Hospitals For Children Open. Fantasy golf/DraftKings players will be presented with a quality field of talent for this event, headlined by Brooks Koepka.

Before I get into my fantasy golf preview for this week’s event, I just wanted to acknowledge how disappointed I was with my top selection in last week’s event, none other than Emiliano Grillo. Grillo lost the most strokes to the field putting at the Safeway Open. Additionally, he missed an eight-foot putt to make the cut. The guy is an outstanding ball striker, but the putting is just dreadful lately.

Unfortunately, having a golfer not perform is going to happen in fantasy golf. You just have to move on to the next week! On a positive note, I did back Harold Varner III last week. He performed very well, finishing 17th at the Safeway Open.

Ok. Let’s shift our focus to the Shriners. Before I get into my Fantasy Golf/Draftkings selections, let’s take a look at the golf course the field will play this week as well as the key statistics I will be focusing on for this event.

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This tournament will be contested on TPC Summerlin. The course is a par 71 that measures approximately 7,255 yards. This track is in Las Vegas, Nevada and plays at about 2,700 feet above sea level. The greens at TPC Summerlin are Bentgrass.

It should be noted that TPC Summerlin has exclusively hosted this event since 2008. This golf course has consistently played as one of the easiest on the PGA Tour schedule each year. Just to provide some clarity to that statement, Bryson DeChambeau won the Shriners last year with a score of 21 under par.

The key statistics I will be focusing on for this tournament are driving accuracy, strokes gained approach, strokes gained off the tee, and GIR (greens in regulation.)

Scottie Scheffler $8,800

The 23-year-old American is playing his first full season on the PGA Tour. Let’s just say that Scheffler is certainly doing all he can to make the most of his opportunity to play on this Tour. I make that statement based on Scheffler’s outstanding play in the first two events of his rookie campaign.

Let’s review Scheffler’s results in his first two events of the year. In his first event of the year, he fired a first-round 65 at A Military Tribute at The Greenbrier. Scheffler continued his quality play at the Greenbrier that resulted in a seventh-place finish.

He followed up the outstanding result at the Greenbrier with a 16th place finish at the Sanderson Farms Championship. Additionally, Scheffler had a total of 21 birdies at the Sanderson Farms. That is impressive stuff. The man can clearly score.

I should also note that Scheffler leads the entire Shriners field in GIR (greens in regulation) percentage through the two events he has played. He has hit an outstanding 80.6% of his greens in regulation!

In my opinion, TPC Summerlin fits this man’s game nicely. If he continues pounding greens in regulation at this track, as he has done all year, I expect that he will be on the front page of the leaderboard on Sunday afternoon.

Scott Piercy $7,900

If you are looking for a course horse, look no further than Las Vegas resident Scott Piercy. Let me provide some data to illustrate why Piercy fits the course horse narrative for this track.

Since 2009, Piercy has played the Shriners Hospitals For Children Open nine times. In those nine attempts, Piercy has made every cut. Additionally, since 2009, Piercy has a very impressive seven top 25 finishes at this tournament!

I fully expect Piercy to continue his outstanding play at the Shriners this week. I also think that Piercy provides great value to fantasy golf lineups with a DraftKings price of only $7,900.

If you are looking for additional lower-priced golfers to complete your DraftKings lineup I like the following to make the cut and possibly top 20:

Brian Harman $7,800

Harman finished 25th on the PGA Tour in driving accuracy last season. He arrives at this event on the heels of two consecutive top 14 finishes.

Harold Varner III $7,600

He has started the new season with two consecutive top 20 finishes. Additionally, Varner III finished 15th at last year’s Shriners Open.

Chesson Hadley $7,100

Hadley has two consecutive top-seven finishes at the Shriners Open. He finished 23rd at last week’s Safeway Open.

J.J. Spaun $6,800

Spaun finished 10th at this event in 2017. He finished 36th at the Sanderson Farms Championship two weeks ago.

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As always, good luck!

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