A host of Tour Championship participants make their way to the 2023 Shriners Children's Open this week at TPC Summerlin. Representing the strongest field of the new FedEx Cup Fall era, this crop of players includes season winners like Si Woo Kim, Nick Taylor and defending champion Tom Kim.
The young South Korean got the better of Patrick Cantlay in last year's proceedings as the action boiled down to the 72nd hole. Needing just a par to secure his second victory in a four-tournament stretch on the PGA Tour, Kim completed his rise to stardom. The 21-year-old continues to search for his third title one year later but arrives in Las Vegas with plenty of form under his belt as he has rattled off seven straight top-25 results between the PGA Tour and DP World Tour.
Kim is not the lone young stud to make the trip to the desert. A pair of European Ryder Cup team members are set to tee it up as Ludvig Aberg's busy fall continues fresh off a defeat in the five-man playoff at the Sanderson Farms Championship. Coming agonizingly close to his first win on the PGA Tour, the Swede appears primed to contend yet again. He is joined in the field by Nicolai Hojgaard, who should be refreshed and refueled following a week off.
These names serve as an opening act for the main event with that being LPGA star Lexi Thompson. The 28-year-old is set to become just the seventh woman to make an appearance on the PGA Tour thanks to a sponsor's exemption. Thompson is riding a bit of form in recent weeks thanks to her 3-1-0 performance at the 2023 Solheim Cup and back-to-back top-10 results. The 11-time winner on the LPGA seeks to become just the second woman to make a cut on the PGA Tour and first to do so in over 70 years.
2023 Shriners Children's Open schedule
Dates: Oct. 12-15 | Location: TPC Summerlin — Las Vegas, Nevada
Par: 71 | Yardage: 7,255 | Purse: $8,400,000
2023 Shriners Children's Open field, odds
- Ludvig Aberg (12-1): Any questions of fatigue were put to bed in the Country Club of Jackson as Aberg's ball-striking wizardry made the trip from Italy to Mississippi. The 23-year-old was terrific from tee to green, gaining 12 strokes on the field and ranking top 10 in terms of strokes gained off the tee, strokes gained approach and strokes gained around the green. The putter let him down, but despite the shortcoming with the flat stick, Aberg was still able to find his way into the five-man playoff. A par did not suffice on the first playoff hole, but the experience will serve him well as his play suggests another winning opportunity on the horizon.
- Tom Kim (12-1)
- Cameron Davis (22-1)
- Si Woo Kim (22-1): Another competition with high stakes was taking place in China during the same time the Ryder Cup stole the spotlight in Rome. South Korea's gold medal at the 2023 Asian Games not only gives their nation a sense of pride but grants Kim and teammate Sungjae Im an exemption from otherwise mandatory military service. Kim's career will continue without a hitch, and the sense of relief could lead to big things in Las Vegas. Making his seventh appearance at the Shriners Children's Open, Kim has collected four top 25s with a pair of T8 results over the last three years.
- J.T. Poston (25-1)
- Adam Schenk (30-1): Schenk was one of the biggest movers at the Tour Championship as he finished the week at East Lake inside the top 10 of the season-long race. Accomplishing this without a victory, Schenk now has eyes on raising his first piece of hardware at a venue where he has come close before. Capturing four top 20s in six appearances, including a podium finish in 2021, the 31-year-old arrives with form in tow. He ranks second in strokes gained approach and inside the top 25 in strokes gained putting over the last six months, which should allow him to contend in this birdie-fest style test.
- Vincent Norrman (35-1): The 25-year-old could be in line to steal Rookie of the Year honors from Eric Cole should another trophy find its place on his mantle. A winner already at the Barbasol Championship in July, Norrman has since emerged from a clustered pack at the Irish Open for his second title in a six-tournament stretch. He possesses the complete game and should fare better than his missed cut in last year's tournament debut.
- Tom Hoge (35-1)
- Eric Cole (35-1)
- Adam Hadwin (35-1)
2023 Shriners Children's Open expert picks
| Winner (12-1): Kim has found his groove ever since the PGA Tour traveled to Scotland this summer. Connecting on seven straight top 25s that included a runner-up finish at The Open, the defending champion ranks first in total strokes gained, seventh in strokes gained tee to green and first in strokes gained putting during this stretch. He has proven capable in the heat of contention and should have no issues getting himself to that point with the current state of his game. | |
| Contender (25-1): This is the type of event Poston has thrived in throughout his career. After a mundane spring, the two-time PGA Tour winner kick started his season with a run at the John Deere Classic as the defending champion. He went on to cash three top 10s in his next four starts including a runner up at the 3M Open where he infamously dunked his second into the water on the 72nd hole. The reason for Poston's late-season resurgence was simple: his iron play caught fire. He ranks fifth in strokes gained approach since the John Deere Classic in conjunction with his reliable putting and a stout short game. | |
| Sleeper (70-1): It feels a hair disrespectful to have Taylor this far down the board as the Canadian experienced a stellar season. Qualifying for the Tour Championship, Taylor connected on 10 top 20s, three top fives and a historic victory at the Canadian Open. Taylor's 2023 marked the best season of his career in terms of total strokes gained and strokes gained approach. For one reason or another, it just hasn't clicked for Taylor in nine appearances at TPC Summerlin, but he arrives this time with confidence in spades. | |
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