Now 49-years-old and with the Champions Tour in sight, there is no sign that Phil Mickelson is preparing to move to the senior circuit. Instead, Mickelson is among the featured players in Las Vegas this week for the 2019 Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. With 44 career PGA Tour victories, four major championships and a 2012 induction to the World Golf Hall of Fame, Mickelson is eager to add to his victory ledger in Las Vegas. Mickelson broke an 11-month winless drought with a victory earlier this year at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, and is a birdie machine – which is perfect for the 7,255-yard, par-71 TPC Summerlin course. Mickelson is joined by fellow major winners Brooks Koepka, Adam Scott and Jim Furyk in the 2019 Shriners Hospitals for Children Open field, along with defending champion Bryson DeChambeau and 2018 winner Patrick Cantlay. The latest 2019 Shriners Hospitals for Children Open odds list Koepka as the Vegas favorite at 9-1, with Cantlay at 10-1 and Scott and DeChambeau going off at 16-1. Before you make your 2019 Shriners Hospitals for Children Open picks, or enter a PGA DFS tournament, you'll want to see the PGA predictions and projected leaderboard from SportsLine's proven computer model.
SportsLine's prediction model, built by DFS pro Mike McClure, has nailed two of the last three majors entering the weekend. It predicted Gary Woodland's first career major championship at the U.S. Open even though he wasn't the favorite entering the weekend. The result: Woodland held off a late charge from Brooks Koepka and won by three strokes. The model also called Koepka's historic victory at the 2019 PGA Championship, predicting he'd hold his lead in the home stretch. In all, this advanced computer model has nailed a whopping six majors entering the weekend, and anyone who has followed it is way up.
Now that the 2019 Shriners Hospitals for Children Open field is locked, SportsLine simulated the event 10,000 times, and the results were surprising. One huge shocker the model is calling for: DeChambeau, the defending champion and one of the top Vegas favorites, doesn't even crack the top five.
DeChambeau exploded out of the gates last season, finishing in the top 10 in his first three official PGA Tour starts. That included his fifth career PGA victory at the Shiners Hospitals for Children Open. In all, DeChambeau finished the 2018-19 PGA Tour season with five top-10 finishes, including a seventh place at the Sentry Tournament of Champions.
Despite his dominant season, DeChambeau struggled mightily down the stretch. In fact, the 25-year-old failed to crack the top 20 in four of his last five starts. And he missed the cut in his first start of the new PGA Tour season earlier this month at A Military Tribute at The Greenbrier. DeChambeau's poor performances can be directly attributed to his inability to find the green in regulation. He finished last season ranked 113th in greens in regulation percentage (66.20), which doesn't bode well for his chances to defend his title at TPC Summerlin. He's not a strong pick to win it all and there are far better values in this loaded Shriners Hospitals for Children Open 2019 field.
Another surprise: the model is very high on Collin Morikawa at 25-1. Despite not turning professional and joining the PGA Tour until June, the Cal-Berkeley alum enjoyed a strong rookie season – winning the Barracuda Championship as part of an abbreviated season that saw him earn $1.75 million and qualify for his first FedEx Cup Playoffs. Morikawa's run-up to the Barracuda Championship was impressive, as he debuted with a T-14 finish at the RBC Canadian Open, then finished T-2 at the 3M Open and T-4 at the John Deere Classic to lock up his 2019-20 PGA Tour card. Once he won the Barracuda Championship in Reno, Nev., Morikawa's 2020-22 card was secure – and it got him into the FedEx Cup Playoffs, where he made it all the way to the BMW Championship. Morikawa has proven he has all the tools to make a run near the top of the 2019 Shriners Hospitals for Children Open leaderboard, so he's a value selection to put on your radar this week.
Also, the model says three other golfers with Shriners Hospitals for Children Open odds of 20-1 or longer will make a strong run at the title. Anyone who backs these underdogs could hit it big.
So who wins the 2019 Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, and which long shots stun the golfing world? Check out the odds below and visit SportsLine now to see the projected 2019 Shriners Hospitals for Children Open leaderboard from the model that's nailed six golf majors, and find out.
Brooks Koepka 9-1
Patrick Cantlay 10-1
Byson DeChambeau 16-1
Adam Scott 16-1
Tony Finau 18-1
Webb Simpson 18-1
Hideki Matsuyama 20-1
Collin Morikawa 25-1
Adam Hadwin 33-1
Joaquin Niemann 33-1
Gary Woodland 33-1
Cameron Champ 40-1
Chez Reavie 40-1
Brandt Snedeker 40-1
Charles Howell III 45-1
Jason Kokrak 45-1
Byeong-Hun An 50-1
Dylan Frittelli 50-1
Scottie Scheffler 50-1
Matthew Wolff 55-1
