Shriners Hospitals for Children Open: Dark Horse Picks

The PGA makes it’s next stop at TPC Summerlin for the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open.

It is starting to feel like we are back in the swing of things, as we have a decently deep field this week for the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open.

We missed last week, but here is how the dark horse picks for the Sanderson Farms Championship went.

Kyle Stanley – 66/1 – MC (72-71) – six bogeys ended up too much for Stanley to overcome.

Kevin Streelman – 80/1 – T-4th (-16) – He shot an even-par 72 on Thursday, and left too much ground to make up.

Chesson Hadley – 100/1 – MC (73-73) – three bogeys each round was his downfall.

Sepp Straka – 100/1 – MC (75-71) – The opening 75 included three bogeys and one double.

Carlos Ortiz – 125/1 – T-4th (-16) – 65-71-65-71 was a tale of two Ortiz’s, good enough for a top-five finish.

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I did have three golfers miss the cut, but picking two top-five finishes more than makes up for it. I’ll count that as an easy win.

Let’s keep the cutoff for being considered a dark horse at 45-1. Let’s get to it.

J.T. Poston – 60/1

He started off the year strong with a T-11th finish at the Sanderson Farms, opening with a 64. He closed with three solid rounds of 70 to nearly get that top ten finish. The success builds from a strong finish last year, where he won the Wyndham Championship, and finished T-16th at the BMW Championship.

A handful of top 20 finishes shows Poston could be entering his prime and getting more comfortable on tour. I like him for a top ten this week.

Abraham Ancer – 66/1

Ancer gained a lot of attention at the end of the 2019 season. He finished T-8th at the Travelers and 2nd at the Northern Trust. That was enough to jump him way up the FedEx Cup standings and get a chance at the Tour Championship.

Like with Poston, I like his strong play to carry over, even though he did miss the cut at the Safeway Open. I think he brings a more solid game to the Shriners Hospitals for Childrens Open, and makes a run at the top of the leaderboard.

Brian Harman – 70/1

Strong off the tee and around the green, Harman will look to capitalize on the strengths of his game this week. He finished 2019 in the top 40 in SG both off the tee, and around the green. The key with him this week will be fairway play. If he is knocking it decently close on his second shots, Harman will be in contention come Sunday.

Harold Varner III – 70/1

Varner will look to continue a very strong start to the season where he has already obtained two top-20 finishes. A T-19th at the Greenbrier, and a T-17th at the Safeway Open. Yes, it’s early, but Varner has been magnificent off the tee so far this season, ranking 4th at 1.076 SG. When you are 18th in distance and 25th in driving accuracy, it makes for plenty of opportunities to score well.

Bud Cauley – 80/1

Cauley played here last year and was able to make it into the top ten due to peppering the GIR. He hit 80.56% and attacked the greens all week. He would even putt well, gaining just over 0.9 SG on the greens. Look for it to continue this year, as he was bettered only by Byeong Hun An in that stat. If he can repeat last year’s performance, I see a top-five finish as being a likely outcome for Cauley.

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Best of luck to everyone this week at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. Now, time to watch some golf.

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