This article is part of our FantasyDraft PGA series.
Shriners Open
Las Vegas, Nevada
TPC Summerlin - Par 71 - 7,255
Field - 144 entrants
Purse - $6.8M
The Preview
Not a single player inside the Top 20 in the Official World Golf Ranking was intrigued enough by everything Las Vegas has to offer this week, as the highest-ranked golfer in the field will be Charley Hoffman (No. 24). The show must go on, however, as TPC Summerlin is once again set up to annually host one of the PGA Tour's grandest birdie fests. Comfortable temperatures and sunny skies are in the forecast throughout the weekend, but windy afternoons could somewhat limit the otherwise vast amount of scoring opportunities that await. Expect the field's best tee-to-green players with lower ball-flights to own an advantage here, while it wouldn't be shocking to see a rookie finish top-five against the below-average competition this week.
Past Champions
2016 - Rod Pampling
2015 - Smylie Kaufman
2014 - Ben Martin
2013 - Webb Simpson
2012 - Ryan Moore
2011 - Kevin Na
2010 - Jonathan Byrd
FantasyDraft Value Picks - based on $100,000 salary cap
Cream of the Crop
Webb Simpson - $17,100
Enjoying a stretch of five top-17s in his last six starts, including a trio of top-10s, Simpson will also be well rested this week as he didn't play in China at the WGC-HSBC Champions and hasn't teed it up since the season-opening Safeway Open. The 37th-ranked golfer in the world won at TPC Summerlin in 2014, which was sandwiched by a pair of top-fives in two other starts at this event before finishing T31-T56 the past two years.
Luke List - $15,800
List is averaging a whopping 140.66 fantasy points per tournament on FantasyDraft through his first three starts of the 2017-18 season thanks in large part to top-15s at the CIMB Classic and CJ Cup. He made his debut at TPC Summerlin last year when he placed T15, and he'll be a prime candidate to finish top-10 among the field in birdie-or-better percentage this week.
Glue Guys
Scott Piercy - $14,600
The Las Vegas native owns home-field advantage at the Shriners Open, and although he's yet to win the event at TPC Summerlin, Piercy has still managed to finish T24-T25-T7 in his last three starts here. The price tag doesn't match the course history or comfortability Piercy feels at the Shriners Open, so he provides a ton of value as a safe play in this range.
Russell Knox - $14,300
Knox might not be the most calming option when it comes to cash-game lineups this week due to below-average recent form, but the course history is there for the 66th-ranked player in the OWGR as he's yet to finish worse than T38 in four starts at the Shriners Open. His best result in Vegas came in 2015 when he finished solo third. Knox also ranked 27th in proximity on Tour last season, so a healthy amount of birdie opportunities should arise if he keeps that up.
Bargain Bin
Aaron Wise - $13,300
The rookie and former University of Oregon standout figures to be among the more popular "sleeper" plays this week after finishing T10 in his debut at the Shriners Open last year, along with his T25 at last week's Sanderson Farms Championship. Throughout his 2017 campaign on the Web.com Tour, Wise ranked third in par-breaker percentage, ninth in scoring average and 11th in the all-around ranking.
Tom Lovelady - $12,600
The storyline of Lovelady's tenure as Justin Thomas' roommate and former teammate at Alabama has taken center stage throughout the early portion of Lovelady's first season on Tour, but he'll look to let his game do the talking this week in Vegas after finishing T18 at the Sanderson Farms Championship. He's now 2-for-2 in terms of cuts made as a rookie, while he ranked first in birdie average, third in driving distance and first in putting average last season on the Web.com Tour.
