Fantasy Golf Sleeper Report – 2024 Shriners Children’s Open

2024 Shriners Children’s Open Fantasy Sleeper Report

Two years ago, Matt McCarty wasn’t even ranked inside the world’s top 500 players.

Today, he’s up to 76 after an astonishing run of three Korn Ferry Tour wins since July….not to mention victory on Sunday at the Black Desert Championship.

The left-hander posted an outstanding three eagles, 23 birdies, and just six bogeys in Utah; a neatly balanced scorecard that would ultimately see him win by three strokes from nearest challenger Stephan Jaeger.

It was only McCarty’s second PGA TOUR start following his battlefield promotion, and yet if he continues to perform admirably on the Fall Swing, he could break into the world’s top-50 AND qualify for a handful of Signature Events next year.

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Now that’s progress.

Indeed, McCarty might even be on the agenda for bettors at the Shriners Children’s Open this week, where his accuracy off the tee might well be at a premium at a TPC Summerlin track where finding fairways has been a real help over the years.

The likes of Tom Kim, Sungjae Im, and Kevin Na have won this event in the past five years, with Adam Hadwin a game runner-up 12 months ago too. The takeaway point? Fairways and greens are the way to go at TPC Summerlin.

The key is that this venue can’t be overpowered, because the altitude in Nevada – TPC Summerlin sits 2,000ft or so above sea level – sees the ball travel much farther than it ordinarily would, ensuring that even the shortest of hitters get a fair chance to shine.

So it’s no surprise that hitting classy irons and wedges from the fairway has been the order of the day here; especially as the winning score in this event is routinely -20 or lower.

There’s only three Par 5s to work with too, so more of the birdie-making will have to be done on the Par 4s – that’s because the Par 3s, which include a 239-yard mammoth, are not exactly fertile ground for breaking par.

Laid with Bentgrass greens, TPC Summerlin is an easy track, but one where tee-to-green expertise will likely win the day; as opposed to merely a hot week with the flatstick, which has been the case lately on the PGA TOUR.

Tom Kim will be looking for a remarkable three-peat of wins in the Shriners this week, and given his feisty displays at the Presidents Cup, bettors might side with him at 12/1 to get the better of his teammate, Taylor Pendrith, in Nevada.

Others teeing it up without necessarily needing to, given their fine FedEx Cup performances this term, include Davis Thompson, Tom Hoge, Cam Davis, Eric Cole, J.T. Poston, and Austin Eckroat.

But, as ever, we’re looking at those a little lower down the pecking order for our Shriners Children’s Open sleeper shortlist, and with a void of proven winners at the top of the betting – Kim aside, this could be the ideal opportunity to back a longshot winner at a notoriously quirky layout.

So who will we be backing this week?

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Matti Schmid – 50/1 – Some long, straight drivers – such as Patrick Cantlay and Matthew Wolff – have thrived at TPC Summerlin in recent years.

It would be incorrect to put Matti Schmid in their bracket, but the German does continue to impress with his ability to find fairways – and with plenty of length into the bargain.

What’s interesting is that Schmid produced the best recorded putting performance of his career on the Bentgrass greens of Black Desert; the same surface, just 130 miles away, we find at TPC Summerlin.

T26 here on debut 12 months ago, Schmid has the ball-striking prowess to go with that remarkable week with the flatstick in Utah. If he puts it all together in Nevada, he could produce the best performance of his PGA TOUR career to date.

Andrew Putnam – 55/1 – As one of the shortest hitters on the PGA TOUR, chances for Andrew Putnam to really hold his own these days are few and far between.

But with three top-20s in his last five trips to TPC Summerlin, including two near top tens, the altitude – and the extra ball carry that promotes – allied to Putnam’s natural accuracy, makes this one location that he can compete on an equal footing.

Most of interest this week is Putnam’s approach play lately, which has been outstanding. He gained +2.61 on the field – in high-grade company, no less – in the DP World Tour’s Alfred Dunhill Links earlier this month, to go with significant gains on the field in three of his prior four starts.

If he can improve on the greens – and he isn’t bad with the flatstick as a rule by any means, Putnam can once again show his class in the Shriners.

Austin Eckroat – 80/1 – When a player hasn’t played competitively for about two months, some pundits will tell you that they’re ‘well rested’, while others will be fearful of ‘ring rust’.

It’s hard to know with any great confidence how the rested/rusty Austin Eckroat will play this week, but at 80/1 we’re getting a player who should be a good fit for TPC Summerlin….and whose career is on the up and up.

In 2024, Eckroat has won his maiden PGA TOUR title (the Cognizant Classic), posted top-20s in a major and two Signature Events, and compiled a solo sixth finish at our correlating Wyndham Championship.

If he is able to hit the ground running in Nevada, Eckroat has the talent to make a mockery of these odds.

Henrik Norlander – 90/1 – The good times keep rolling for Henrik Norlander, an under-the-radar sort who is playing some excellent golf right now.

The Swede took kindly to Black Rock last week, gaining +1.00 and +1.04 on the field respectively in his SG: Approach and SG: Putting, on his way to a T8 finish.

It’s the second event in a row in which Norlander has posted consecutive positive weeks with the flatstick – the club that has, historically, been his kryptonite.

His iron and wedge game, on the other hand, has been outstanding for months now, and T8 in the DP World Tour’s European Masters in September – an event played way up at altitude in the Swiss mountains – offers some handy pointers of what we can hopefully expect in Nevada.

Ben Kohles – 110/1 – We backed Ben Kohles in this very column at 75/1 last week.

He finished down in T46 in the end, but that doesn’t really tell the whole tale – opening rounds of 64 and 65 getting Kohles very much into the conversation at the top of the leaderboard.

In truth, the Black Desert course was perhaps a bit too much of a stretch for such a short hitter, so we’re more than willing to take a chance on Kohles at a shorter, more technical layout at TPC Summerlin – especially now those odds have lengthened to 110/1.

Kohles, who is deadly accurate off the tee, has gained strokes on approach on the field in eight of his last nine starts. If he can rediscover his putting form of the summer, he could exceed expectations this week.

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Want more of this week’s fantasy predictions? Check out our full fantasy preview for the Shriners Children’s Open here.

Fantasy Golf Predictions This Season (2024-2025)

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