The third tournament of the new PGA season begins this week with the 2023 edition of the Shriners Children’s Open. It has been on the circuit since 1983 and has produced a number of entertaining finishes and low scoring in recent years.
The field is similar to the one we saw last time out at the Sanderson Farms Championship. With the top players still waiting to get involved with the new campaign. There is mixed quality in the line-up, so we may see another long odds winner. Las Vegas is the location this week, so read on for our tournament preview, predictions and betting picks.
Ludvig Aberg remains on the Tour as one of two players from the Ryder Cup to become involved over the last two weeks. The Swede was involved in Sunday’s playoff and he starts this time at best industry odds of 12/1. Aberg drew level with the leaders after a stunning finish, and he led the field in Strokes Gained: Tee to Green.
Also quoted at that top price of 12/1 is the defending Shriners Children’s Open champion. Tom Kim won this event by three shots from Matthew NeSmith and Patrick Cantlay last year, with a bogey-free four rounds. Kim switched to the DP World Tour following the FedEx Cup playoffs, and he recorded two top 20 finishes in Europe.
Behind the market leaders, Si Woo Kim and Cam Davis head the chasing pack at the same best odds of 22/1. Si Woo Kim leads the Power Rankings this week, with strong stats and three Top 15 finishes in this event. Davis also has a good record on this course and has four top 10 finishes in his last five starts.
A further gap opens to J.T. Poston, Adam Schenk, Eric Cole and J.J. Spaun who are all available at 33/1 in places. There is some interest in Poston after he returned a strong finish to the FedEx Playoffs last season. Schenk finished third here in 2021. Other chasers to consider this week include Tom Hoge at 35/1, plus Emiliano Grillo, Andrew Putnam, Adam Hadwin, Nicolai Hojgaard and Vincent Norrman who are all quoted at 40/1.
Any of those names could be in contention this week. Tom Hoge led this tournament after the first round 12 months ago and eventually tied for fourth. Norrman will be one to watch this season and could even come through in a field such as this.
Heading up the underdogs this time is Beau Hossler at best industry odds of 45/1. Close behind is a clutch of golfers at 50/1 including Aaron Rai, Adam Svensson, Garrick Higgo, Mark Hubbard Davis Thompson and Lucas Herbert. There is some interest in Hubbard who finished last season strongly, but he has a poor record on this course.
Further down the betting lines at a top price of 60/1 is Sunday’s winner Luke List. After winning a five-way playoff last time out, we may have expected to see lower odds on the Tour’s most recent champion.
Other outsiders to mention include Matthew NeSmith at 70/1, Matt Wallace at 80/1, Chesson Hadley at 80/1, Akshay Bhatia at 90/1, Cameron Champ at 100/1 and Troy Merritt at 110/1. NeSmith was a joint runner-up at the Shriners Children’s Open behind Tom Kim last year.
Our Preview’s 2023 Shriners Children’s Open Predictions & Picks with Course & Betting Trends
The Shriners Children’s Open is played out on the TPC Summerlin Course in Las Vegas. It is a Par 71, but it has some reasonable distance at around 7,255 yards. Away from the Bermuda Grass fairways and Bentgrass greens, there will be some hazards along the way, but scoring should be low across the four rounds. Conditions should be dry, warm and still, so it could come down to a battle with the putter.
With Kevin Na and Martin Laird doubling up in 2019 and 2020 respectively, there have been two multiple winners in the last four years, so the trends are promising for defending champion Tom Kim. Kim and Ludvig Aberg are worthy favorites, but there is some depth to this field. It could be a week to focus on the top 10 finish markets, but one player that interests us is Vincent Norrman. The Swede looks as composed on the course as his compatriot Aberg and, after winning the Barbasol Championship in July, he added the Irish Open title last month.
Norrman is in form, has good all-round stats and could well succeed in this weaker field. He is a longshot pick with a touch of value at the stateside oddsmakers. So these are our Shriners Children’s Open golf betting predictions and picks for this preview:
- Vincent Norrman to win at 40/1 with BetOnline or EveryGame.
- Top 10 Finish Picks (best odds in brackets): Vincent Norrman (+400 BetOnline), Cam Davis (+275 BetOnline), J.T. Poston (+330 EveryGame) and Aaron Rai (+450 BetOnline).
Matt Harris is a golf and soccer expert for USA Betting. His other area of specialist knowledge is cricket. He is well known in sports journalism and contributes articles to a plethora of big-name websites and media outlets. Titles that he writes or has written for include: Betfair, BetVictor, Unibet & Just Bookies.