The 2020/21 PGA Tour season continues to pick up pace with this week’s running of the Shriners Hospital for Children Open. A competition that has been on the schedules since it debuted as the Panasonic Las Vegas Pro Celebrity Classic in 1983, the present backers became involved in 2013 and it’s an important tournament from its charitable perspective.
A stronger field can usually be expected for this event so let’s see who is in the frame as we head to TPC at Summerlin in glamorous Las Vegas. Keep reading for our 2020 Shriners Hospitals predictions and full preview, ending with USAbetting’s picks.
Bryson DeChambeau takes to the tee as a major winner for the very first time and there’s obvious interest in the new US Open Champion. After that incredible six shot win in a tournament where no other golfer finished under par, The Scientist is a worthy favorite with the well-known stateside odds-setters this week.
DeChambeau can be backed at odds of around 7/1 (+700) and it’s also worth noting that he’s a former Shriners champion, having edged past Patrick Cantlay by one stroke in 2018.
Close behind at 9/1 in places is Webb Simpson who led last season’s FedEx Series for a time. Simpson is another former winner of this tournament, although we have to go back to 2013 to find his six-shot victory. Webb is 8/8 here with three top 10 finishes to add to that win.
There is a gap in the Shriners betting lines to 18/1 and the all-time leading money earner in this golf event. Patrick Cantlay won it in 2017 and has since been runner up in the last two editions. Current form isn’t great with just one top 10 finish in 2020 but course records can offer important pointers.
Marginally further back at odds of around 20/1 are Tony Finau, Collin Morikawa and Hideki Matsuyama. Finau tied for ninth in this tournament last season with good stats and he’ll come into the 2020 renewal with five top 10 finishes in his last eight starts.
Harris English follows while Matthew Wolff looks to be a potential value pick at 28/1. It has been a breakthrough year for Wolff and the only question relates to his ability to respond to disappointment at the US Open where he remained in touch until DeChambeau blew everyone away on Sunday.
Also included in this pack are Scottie Scheffler plus Jason Day, Rickie Fowler and Sungjae Im who are all heading out to 33/1 with the sportsbooks.
As for the outsiders, Paul Casey kicks off this section at a generous 40/1 and he is a regular favorite of USAbetting’s in the top 10 betting odds markets. The Englishman ran Morikawa close at the PGA Championship and returned a solid performance at the US Open. Casey can be a contender but hasn’t played much golf outside of the majors.
Sergio Garcia made a welcome return to the winners’ enclosure on Sunday and the Spaniard is just behind at 45/1 with other experienced hands such as Louis Oosthuizen and Zach Johnson returning similar prices. Elsewhere, it may be a surprise to see defending champion Kevin Na out at 66/1 but he has little form or consistency as he prepares his defense.
Also at 66/1 is Will Zalatoris and that figure may be tempting in light of his rise in the last few weeks. Moving further back, Charley Hoffman, Cameron Champ, Keegan Bradley and Matt Kuchar are approaching the 100/1 mark. All four could be genuine contenders for single digit finishes at the very least.
There is clear depth to this field and we would not rule out another long-odds winner but what will it take to get over the line? USAbetting will now try to answer that with our Shriners Hospitals for Children Open predictions.
Our Preview’s Shriners Hospitals Course & Betting Trends with Predictions & Golf Picks Verdict
TPC at Summerlin is our host once again and the course provides a fairly standard par 71 at 7,255 yards. It ranked as the easiest of 10 par 71s on Tour last season and its main defense is the weather, with wind playing a pivotal part at times. If conditions are benign, it can often turn into a putting contest as Kevin Na proved last year. As the champion finished at 23 under, he ranked highly in putting: birdies or better, one putt percentage and strokes gained: putting.
Kevin Na collected his second Shriners Open title in 2019 but multiple champions are relatively rare. Na’s double was the first this century with Jim Furyk the only other golfer to have lifted the trophy on more than one occasion.
If it does all boil down to a contest with the flatstick it’s going to be much tougher to call. One price that has stood out is that of Matthew Wolff’s. He is in the ascendancy and has to come out fighting following that disappointing final day at Winged Foot. Wolff for the win is the tip with three other potential top 10 finishes added as the fall schedule starts to pick up momentum. Here are the Shriners golf predictions and picks:
- Matthew Wolff to win at +2900 (29/1) with Bookmaker. He is +2500 (25/1) with Bovada, Intertops and Betonline.
- Top 10 finishes: Wolff (+240), Paul Casey (+300), Tony Finau (+180) and Will Zalatoris (+475) and all those odds are with Bovada.
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.