2023 Shriners Children’s Open: Top 10 Power Rankings at TPC Summerlin
Golfers hope red numbers on the scorecard turn into green dollar signs as the PGA Tour stops in Las Vegas for the Shriners Children’s Open.
One of the PGA Tour’s more notable fall stops is here this week. If nothing more, it’s due to the locale.
Sin City welcomes pro golfers to town looking to make their fortune with their golf clubs (and perhaps with their poker chips, as well).
This event was established in 1983 and has been a staple on the schedule ever since.
It bounced around courses until settling on current venue, TPC Summerlin, in 2008.
TPC Summerlin was designed by Bobby Weed with consultation from Fuzzy Zoeller and opened in 1991. It plays at 2,700 feet of elevation, which is about half of the elevation players see at the Barracuda Championship in Truckee, California.
The course plays at 7,243 yards for a par 71. The course is very gettable for short hitters, as evidenced by recent Shriners wins by the likes of Kevin Na, Martin Laird, etc. TPC Summerlin’s bentgrass greens tend to roll faster than PGA Tour average.
Like most desert courses, there isn’t much rough to worry about. Missing fairways can still lead to some tricky shots out of unpredictable lies.
There’s a solid contingent of pros who reside in Las Vegas and/or played collegiately at UNLV. TPC Summerlin may not be a player’s course, but odds are he has several rounds under his belt here if he’s a local.
Let’s dive into the top 10 who are primed for success this week in Nevada:
Scott Stallings has shot 6-under in his last six rounds at TPC Summerlin and has zero dollars to show for it.
He’s an example of the reality that you better go low if you want to stick around for the weekend at the Shriners Children’s Open.
Prior to these MCs in 2020 and 2021, Stallings made three straight cuts and four of his last five between 2015 and 2019.
More importantly, Stallings comes into the week in great form. The Tennessee Tech alum posted his best finish of 2023 last week, a T-2nd at the Sanderson Farms Championship.
Stallings was part of a five-man playoff. He made par on the par-4 18th hole and would’ve advanced if it weren’t for Luke List’s 43-foot birdie putt to win.
It was the 38-year-old’s fourth straight made cut. He narrowly missed out on the FedEx Cup Playoffs last season.
He’s up 32 spots to 98th in the FedEx Cup Fall standings. Stallings is exempt for next season, but now has a more realistic shot at reaching Nos. 51-60 to make it into next year’s first two Signature Events.
Stallings is a big hitter who will have a lot of wedges in hand at a short course playing at elevation this week. He carded four rounds of par or better at the Shriners to take T-16th.
He had the putter rolling well at the Sanderson, ranking second in SG putting per round (2.35). Stallings ranked on or near the top half of the field in all other SG categories.