Fantasy Golf Sleeper Report – Shriners Hospital for Children Open

The Sleeper Report: Fantasy Golf Sleepers, Long Shots, and Undervalued Picks for the 2017 Shriners Hospital for Children Open

The 2017 Shriners Hospital for Children Open Fantasy Sleeper Preview

After a sojourn abroad for the Asian swing, the PGA TOUR returns to US soil for the final few events of the calendar year.

The Shriners Hospitals for Children Open comes live from TPC Summerlin, which is based in the heart of neon city itself, Las Vegas.

A steady if unspectacular field of players will head to Nevada for what appears to be a wide-open chance of winning some silverware. There are few elite players – they are putting their feet up following the Asian Swing – but even so there’s a fine chance that somebody like Tony Finau, Kevin Chappell, or Webb Simpson could add to their trophy haul.

Smylie Kaufman celebrates with the trophy after winning the final…

Smylie Kaufman celebrates with the trophy after winning the final round of the Shriners Hospitals For Children Open on October 25, 2015 at TPC Summerlin in Las Vegas, Nevada. Get premium, high resolution news photos at Getty Images

Of course, there’s always the opportunity for an unheralded Web.com Tour to step up to the plate, and they don’t come much more unheralded than Ryan Armour, who landed his first PGA TOUR title at last week’s Sanderson Farms Championship after more than 100 starts and ten years of trying.

The last three Shriners champions have been Ben Martin, Smylie Kaufman, and Rod Pampling, who were priced at 175/1, 250/1 and 275/1 respectively. This is a fantastic event for punters to make a quick buck!

So who are the long-priced sleepers tickling our fancy this week?

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2017 Shriners Hospital for Children Open Fantasy Sleeper Report

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The 2017 Shriners Hospital for Children Open Fantasy Sleeper Report

Mix and match these players with your usual rosters (or play them separately) to get the most out of your picks this week.

Jamie Lovemark – Vegas Odds 55/1 – If there is anything to be made of the Nine Bridges-Summerlin link then Jamie Lovemark looks well set to capitalize.

The West Coast lad finished T5 in South Korea, and his ability to find plenty of greens in breezy conditions should bode well this week.

Lovemark ranked 35th for Strokes Gained: Tee to Green last season, and some of his best performances – T3 at the Greenbrier Classic, T10 at Memorial – came on Bentgrass greens.

Smylie Kaufman – Vegas Odds 66/1 – The three key assets of Kaufman’s game – tee-to-green, approach and putting – were all in good order at the Sanderson Farms Championship, and it’s little wonder he finished T4.

Despite his travails last season, Kaufman is somebody that has remained in our thoughts ever since he led the Masters after 54 holes; that’s the mark of a supreme golfer.

A former winner at Summerlin, the 25-year-old struggled during his title defense but that’s not the end of the world: more experienced players than him have struggled when attempting to retain.

More than half of his last 24 rounds have been in the 60s, and those signs are promising ahead of a return to a venue that will hold plenty of good memories.

Martin Laird – Vegas Odds 66/1 – One of the pleasing aspects of Martin Laird’s resume is that he has made the cut in seven of his eight trips to Summerlin, and as mentioned in windy conditions that is a feat in itself.

That run includes a win in 2009 and a second place 12 months later, and while his record has tailed off somewhat since the Scot remains a solid option.

He was decent enough from tee to green at the Safeway Open, where he finished T17, and did okay in the FedExCup with T20 at the Northern Trust and T44 at the BMW Championship, where he finished with a round of 66.

Nick Watney – Vegas Odds 100/1 – 2017 was a strange season for Nick Watney: occasionally he looked like getting back to his very best form – the like of which led Watney to five PGA TOUR titles.

He compiled a list of five top-25s and made the cut in 14/23 starts, although in truth he didn’t really get close to winning.

However, TPC Summerlin has been a good home for the Vegas resident, with eight cuts made from eleven starts and five finishes of T11 or better. Since 2010 he’s made 6/7 cuts and delivered five top-20s, so he will surely offer excellent value for money.

Rob Oppenheim – Vegas Odds 125/1 – Another Web.com Tour graduate who played very nicely from tee to green in Mississippi was Rob Oppenheim, who ranked eighth for SG: Approach and ninth for SG: Tee to Green.

The 37-year-old bagged an excellent six top-10 finishes on the Web.com Tour last season, including a pair on the West Coast, so the suggestion is that he has the tools to do well at Summerlin.

Six of his last eight outings have yielded top-25 finishes, and in his PGA TOUR bio it says Oppenheim’s favorite city to visit is Las Vegas – let’s hope he’s taken his clubs and had a look around Summerlin in the past!

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Want more of this week’s fantasy predictions? Check out our full fantasy preview for the 2017 Shriners Hospital for Children Open here.

Sleeper Report Predictions This Season (2017-2018)

[skill_bar heading=”Total Top 3s” percent=”0%” bar_text=”0 out of 20 picks” style=”background-color: #5fb341″][skill_bar heading=”Total Top 10s” percent=”10.00%” bar_text=”2 out of 20 picks” style=”background-color: #5fb341″][skill_bar heading=”Total Top 25s” percent=”45.00%” bar_text=”9 out of 20 picks” style=”background-color: #5fb341″][skill_bar heading=”Total Winners Picked” percent=”0%” bar_text=”0 out of 4 events” style=”background-color: #5fb341″][skill_bar heading=”Total Runners-Up Picked” percent=”0%” bar_text=”0 out of 4 events” style=”background-color: #5fb341″][skill_bar heading=”Total Made Cuts (Includes Sleepers)” percent=”90.00″ bar_text=”18 out of 20 picks” style=”background-color: #5fb341″]

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