Daily Fantasy Golf Course Primer: Shriners Hospitals for Children Open

The PGA Tour heads west for the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open in Las Vegas, Nevada. TPC Summerlin is the host, a 7,255-yard, par 71 course that features some very unique looks off the tee. Golfers accustomed to lush green rough and tree-lined fairways will instead eye desert brush and rock, with approaches into some of the largest greens on Tour.

Last year, Kevin Na put on one of the great putting displays in recent memory. Those large greens factored into his record-setting total feet of putts made at 558, and he basically lost to the field everywhere except the greens. According to strokes gained data from Fantasy National Golf Club, Na gained 14.1 total strokes on the field in last year's contest. He gained a total of 14.2 strokes putting. He only needed a four-footer to take down Patrick Cantlay in the second playoff hole, and it's Cantlay's game that we'll look to emulate this week.

Na was below average in greens in regulation for the week, but the rest of the top 10 was basically the top 10 for the week in greens in regulation gained. Cantlay was second on that front, and over the past three years, he's gained more strokes tee to green at this event than anyone in the field.

As befits the desert, Summerlin features 92 sand bunkers littered across its layout. With the game turning its eye back toward distance in light of the most recent major champion, we can expect to see the field unleash drivers with reckless abandon this week. Those bunkers and brush areas will be the biggest defense against the bomb and gouge, and we have some serious doubts they'll put up much resistance to the big hitters.

As you might expect, the field will see hot and dry conditions all week as the Vegas sun beats down into the mid-90s every day this week. Friday afternoon looks to have the heaviest wind, so targeting PM / AM waves may be the best option if choosing to stack.

Let's dig into the course and see what stats we can use to build our daily fantasy lineups this week.

Course and Tournament Info

Course: TPC Summerlin
Par: 71
Distance: 7,255 yards
Fairways/Rough: Bermudagrass
Greens: Bentgrass

With greens like these (average 7,400 square feet), it's no surprise Summerlin is consistently near the highest GIR percentage on Tour. The golfers who outpace the field in greens hit this week will just about have to hit all of them. Large greens also mean a lot of those GIRs result in long birdie putts. Three-putt avoidance will be key this week, though the stat is certainly dependent on golfers' rounds and situations and not one we'll eye as a predictive key stat.

Some other courses that require elite tee-to-green games with the propensity for outlier putting performances are CC of Jackson (Sanderson Farms Championship), Sedgefield CC (Wyndham Championship), and TPC Twin Cities (3M Open). We can throw in TPC Deere Run as another bentgrass track with a high GIR percentage.

Key Stats

These stats will be key to success in the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open.

Na's heroics aside, this is a true tee-to-green track with ballstrikers consistently dotting the leaderboard. According to Fantasy National, top 10 finishers have gained on average more strokes via approaches than off the tee and around the green combined. The course should play fast and firm given the dry conditions, and that will even the playing field a bit off the tee, making the approach shot that much more important. As covered above, the field generally hits the greens at a pretty high clip at Summerlin. That's why we'll focus on golfers who gain GIR's as opposed to just hit them.

With the winning score cracking 20-under par in three of the past four years, we'll need to focus our DFS roster builds and betting cards around birdie makers. Par 4s offer a few opportunities this week, and with all but two measuring 461 yards or shorter, we can expect to see most of the field targeting a wedge into almost every one of them.

Course History Studs

Cantlay won here in the fall of 2017 and was runner-up each of the past two seasons. Before falling to Na, Cantlay finished just one stroke behind Bryson DeChambeau. Na had previously won the Shriners back in 2011. DeChambeau has his own course chops with the win being bracketed by two other top-10s in the past three years.

Lucas Glover also has finished inside the top 10 in each of his past three appearances, while Webb Simpson, Chesson Hadley, and Luke List each have three straight top-20 finishes.

Mike Rodden is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Mike Rodden also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username mike_rodden. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in his articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.