2021 Shriners Children's Open Preview and Picks

Will Zalatoris is our top pick to win the 2021 Shriners Children's Open 

(image: Chris Carlson/AP)

 

 

The 2021-2022 PGA Tour season is in full swing now and heading to Las Vegas this week for the 2021 Shriners Children's Open, hosted by TPC at Summerlin. 

 

A favourite among many, the tournament often features a field of some of the best golfers on the PGA Tour and is known for benefiting and raising money for the Shriners Hospital for Children network. 

 

TOURNAMENT HISTORY

The tournament boasts an elaborate history, compared to other events on tour, reflecting the showmanship of the city that hosts it.

Since its inception in 1983 and until 2004, the tournament consists of five rounds of golf, spread out over several courses in the Las Vegas area; similar in style to the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.

 

In 1984, it became the first PGA Tour event to offer a purse of over $1 million, with $162,000 going to the winner.

From 2006 to 2007, it was known as the Frys.com Open, after which Frys.com switched their sponsorship to what is now the Fortinet Championship.

From 2008-2012, Justin Timberlake hosted the tournament and it's pro-am event.

The tournament was also the site of first career wins for a number of notable professionals including Jim Furyk in 1995, Tiger Woods in 1996, Kevin Na in 2011, and Patrick Cantlay in 2017. 

TPC AT SUMMERLIN

After going through a rotation of courses, the current host for the event is TPC at Summerlin, located just 20 minutes downtown from Las Vegas. 

 

The course opened in 1991 and was the design of Bobby Weed, frequent collaborator with Pete Dye. In addition to TPC at Summerlin, Weed oversaw the design of several other tournament-level courses in the TPC network including TPC Las Vegas, TPC Tampa Bay and TPC River Highlands in Connecticut.

Summerlin is private and for the Shriners Children's Open will play as a par 71 measuring 7,255 yards in length.

OUR PICKS TO WIN

 

1) Will Zalatoris

2) Louis Oosthuizen

3) Nick Watney

Zalatoris is off to a hot start this season, finishing T11 at the Fortinet Championship and T14 last week at the Sanderson Farms Championship, where he carded a course record 61 during his second round. TGR favourite Oosthuizen makes his season debut this week, looking to carry some momentum from last season. Finally, Watney is coming off a T2 finish last week and is in great form. 

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Play kicks off Thursday morning, be sure to check out our Weekend Update to see who is leading heading into the weekend.

-Nick

Toronto Golf Reviews